His Revenge by Charlene Raquel
Chapter Twenty-Six
Score! That was the fourth goal he made in as many attempts. He was unstoppable on the field and the scrimmage team knew it. The guys on the other team couldn’t even come close to stealing the ball from him. He was in control and in the grove.
“Someone’s in a better mood,” Tom joked. “It’s a damn good thing too, because, dude, you were a…”
“He was acting like a dick,” another of his teammates teased.
Drew rubbed the back of his neck. He had been acting like a dick. “Damn, sorry, man.”
Tom laughed. “Got back with your girl?”
Drew’s death stare had Tom backing up. “What do you know about it?”
“Whoa. Nothing. Just figured it was something like that. What else would cause a normally happy guy to turn into an asshole for a week and then turn back into the happy guy again?”
Drew stopped jogging and faced Tom. “I didn’t mean to take your head off.”
Tom shrugged. “I get it. I don’t like anyone talking about my girl either. Glad you got everything sorted. If you were that messed up from being away from her, you must really love her.”
“I do. Now let’s go kick some more ass.” Drew went back to his position, waiting for the ref to blow his whistle.
Just before they were ready to start again, the same asshole who has tripped him before was right across from him. Drew didn’t like the look in the guy’s eyes. It was not going to go well.
He hadn’t seen the jerk the first half of the scrimmage, so he hadn’t expected to see the guy across from him. Tom shot Drew a worried look as the whistle sounded. The ball shot his way, and he immediately took control and began to volley it between his feet. Drew weaved his way down the field, moving in and out of tight spots but keeping the soccer ball away from everyone.
Tom was being guarded by two players from the other team so he couldn’t pass the ball. He had a small opening, so he pulled his foot back and whacked the ball into the top left corner to the net!
Just as he was throwing his arms up in celebration, he felt a fist connect with the side of his head. The field became fuzzy and then everything turned dark.
~*~*~
Gwen was just about to walk into the library when her phone rang. She was surprised to see that Mrs. Hamby, her landlady, was calling her.
“Hi, Mrs. Hamby. Is everything okay?”
“Oh, yes, dear. I was wondering if you would help me with something this afternoon when you are finished with your classes.” Mrs. Hamby sounded a little winded.
Gwen hoped her sweet old landlady was not trying to do something she shouldn’t. Sam and she had caught the woman trying to haul heavy cement planters across the yard, and attempted to carry an entire fifty pound bag of grass seed. “Sure. I can come now if that’s okay. I was going to stop by the library, but I really didn’t feel like doing that.”
Mrs. Hamby let out a loud breath. “That’s great dear. And please let that cute boyfriend of yours know that he can stop by for my green bean casserole at any time. I know how he just loves it.”
“Yeah. Okay. See you soon.” Gwen swiped the phone off and stared at it for a second. Drew hated green beans. Actually, he despised them. Mrs. Hamby had even tried to hide some in her beef stew and Drew picked them out.
Hopefully, the sweet old lady was not starting to go senile. Gwen changed directions and headed to her car instead. Crossing the grass instead of going the long way around, she was surprised to see Parker waiting for her as she stepped back on the sidewalk.
“Hey. How are you doing? I was concerned about you after you took off from the coffee shop.”
Gwen gave him a fake smile. “Hi, Parker. How are you doing? I’m surprised you guys aren’t on the water practicing for the big rowing regatta this weekend.”
Parker’s face broke into a huge smile. “You remembered the team was rowing.”
“Of course. The whole campus has been talking about it. Yale’s got a great crew.”
“We’re better.” He winked at her. “I’m competing in the single scull and the double scull heats. You can come as my guest and sit in the team’s box.”
“Oh, uh. Maybe. I have a paper due on Monday so I’m not sure if I’ll have time.”
Parker frowned and took her hand. “There are people who can help with tedious things like that. Research papers have no practical use unless you’re boring and go into a menial field that does that sort of thing.” He stroked her fingers. “Say you’ll come. I won’t take no for an answer. There are several people I want you to meet. It will be the perfect opportunity for you to get to know them.”
“We’ll see.” She had to tug her hand free.
“Let’s have a late lunch.” Parker hovered closer.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I have plans.” Thank you, Mrs. Hamby.
“Nothing could be more important than spending time with me.” Parker gave her a dazzling smile that she was sure he thought would make her swoon.
“I really have to get home.” Gwen took a step back. “I’m helping an elderly neighbor and I can’t keep her waiting.”
Parker didn’t hide his annoyance. “Fine. You’ll have to make it up to me. I’ll call you later to make plans.”
Wow, pushy. Gwen was going to have to be very careful around him. “Bye, Parker.” She jogged away before he could stop her.
She got to her car, threw her bag in the back seat, and headed home.
~*~*~
“Hey. Where are you? My brother’s gonna be pissed.” Dean wasn’t expecting Drew to call him because his friend was supposed to meet him in history class. He wouldn’t blow that off; Jeff would kick his ass.
“Uh, Dean. This is Tom, Drew’s teammate. There’s been an accident on the field. Drew was taken to Memorial Hospital.”
His stomach dropped. The last time Drew was on the soccer field, he had been tripped from behind. He hoped the same asshole didn’t hurt him worse. “Is he okay? What the hell happened?”
“It’s bad. He’s still unconscious. He was punched in the temple by an asshole on the scrimmage team.” Tom hesitated. “I, uh, I found brass knuckles on the ground by the other team’s bench.”
“Fuck! I’ll be right there.” Dean shoved his phone in his pocket as his brother made his way over to him. A temple shot with brass knuckles could kill him.
“Talk to me.” Jeff demanded, shoving his stuff in his backpack.
“Someone took Drew out on the field.” Dean took a deep breath. “It’s not good.”
“Are you fuckin’ kidding me? Let’s go.” Jeff started out of the class but stopped at the doorway. “Class is canceled.”
“We need to make sure Drew’s okay and then find that motherfucker.” Dean wanted to hunt the guy down right that minute, but he needed to make sure his best friend was okay.
“Are you going to call Gwen?”
“Not yet. We need to see what’s going on first.”
Jeff nodded. “She’s going to be pissed.”
“I’d rather her be a little pissed and know that he’s going to be okay.” He couldn’t bring himself to think about what would happen if Drew wasn’t okay.
“I’ll drive. You call my team.”
They threw their stuff in the trunk of Dean’s SUV and headed to the hospital.
~*~*~
Gwen had expected to see Mrs. Hamby outside doing something she shouldn’t be, but the kind old woman was nowhere to be seen. She walked all the way around the house and was surprised that the curtains were closed. Mrs. Hamby usually opened her drapes first thing in the morning. She told Gwen that letting the sunlight into the house was a morning ritual and announced to the neighbors that she was receiving guests.
Maybe she was really having an off day. Gwen hoped Mrs. Hamby was okay. Maybe she should call one of her sons. They hadn’t been by for a visit in a while and were overdue.
She rounded the front and climbed the steps. She loved the wraparound porch with the hanging swing. Gwen always thought that if she had a house like this one, the swing would be her spot. It would be the place she would sit every evening as the sun set.
Before going up to the door and knocking, Gwen glanced at the window boxes full of flowers. They didn’t look like they had been watered in a while. Concern grew for her landlady.
Mrs. Hamby had told her that she was always welcome to walk right inside, but Gwen wouldn’t do that. She respected people’s privacy too much. It was probably because she never had any growing up, so it was important to her now.
It took a long time for Mrs. Hamby to answer the door and when she did, there was a strained almost painful expression on her face. “Hello, dear.”
“Hi. Is everything okay? Do you need me to call your son, Garret?”
“No! No need. I’ll be just fine.”
Gwen was calling Garret when she was done helping his mother. She was acting very oddly, and something was definitely wrong. She hoped the woman was not getting sick. “Did you need me to help with the plants? They look a little dry.”
“I’m not bothering with those old things.” Mrs. Hamby’s eyes were large.
“Okay.” Gwen was more troubled with Mrs. Hamby’s answers.
The elderly woman stumbled forward, frowned and then righted herself. “Please, come inside.” She winced.
Gwen reached out to help steady her friend, but a hand closed around her wrist and Gwen was pulled inside the darkened house.
The door was closed behind her and the deadbolt turned. She glanced at where Mrs. Hamby was but saw her mother instead. Dread filled her. This was not good.
Carol Mason glared at her daughter. “It’s about time you got here.”
Gwen crossed her arms over her chest. “What are you doing here, Mother?
“Don’t you take that tone with me, you little bitch.”
“Wow. Name calling? What would your country club friends think?”
“I wouldn’t know! I can’t show my face there because of you! You ruined everything. Everything! All the work we’ve done. All the plans we’ve made are for nothing!”
Gwen glared at her hysterical mother. “What are you talking about?”
“You don’t even know. Your father’s in hiding. We can’t go anywhere. People are after us. They’re going to take everything away from us! From Me!”
“Why are you in Mrs. Hamby’s house? You better not hurt her.” Gwen scanned for the old woman but didn’t see her. No wonder Mrs. Hamby was saying odd things. She had been trying to warn Gwen.
“That old woman is nothing to us!”
Gwen clenched her jaw. Her mother was completely insane. “Go home. I don’t want you here. I don’t want anything to do with you.”
Gwen turned to leave, but her mother flew across the foyer and slapped her across the face.
Gwen’s hand went to her cheek in shock. Carol Mason was mentally abusive and neglectful, but she had never hit her before. “I’m leaving and if I ever see you again, I will call the police. Goodbye, Carol.”
“How dare you? The disrespect we’ve put up with for years! All you had to do was go with your father’s associate. He was going to make you one of his wives. He wanted a western wife with spirit. You would have had every luxury, but that wasn’t good enough for you!”
Gwen was moving from pissed at her mother to fearful of the crazy bitch in front of her. The woman was clearly unhinged. “You’re sick. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Carol laughed manically. “Well, that’s where you’re wrong. I’m bringing you to him and he’s going to give everything back to us. It will be all as it should be.”
“You’re crazy!” Gwen began to back away when she bumped into a large slightly pudgy body. She tried to sidestep away from him, but he wrapped an arm around her middle, locking her arms at her sides. She twisted her upper body, but it was too late. A sharp pain in her neck happened a few seconds before everything got blurry and then darkness took her under.
The End for now…
~*~*~
Thank you for reading His Revenge, Secret Society Book Two. Please consider leaving a review.
I had originally planned to only have two books in this series, but there was just too much story to tell and adventures to undertake to wrap up in two books. Their Vengeance will be the final book in the Secret Society Series.
Gwen and Drew’s adventure will be over, but their friends will find themselves in all kinds of trouble. The military guys, Tech, Boomer, Crash and Rip will be featured in their own series later this fall. They each will have their own stand-alone book in the series. You also might see Dominic and Grant.
Click here to preorder Their Vengeance, Secret Society Book Three. It is up for pre-order for November 2021, but I am going to try my best to get this book to you in October 2021. Turn the page for a sneak peek at the beginning of Their Vengeance.
