Precarious

  Our eyes meet and she gives me a smile I’ll hold with me forever. It says more than thank you; it says you saved her life.

  Loud rumbling zips past the road. For the Tinmen to reach the clubhouse, they’d have to turn off and come up the road. They’re not going to risk that; even I know that. They could be walking right into an ambush, and it’s too dangerous for them to act on their need to make Maddox pay.

  The bikes rumbling disappears down the road, and I let a long, agonized breath out, dropping down onto the couch. The men all turn to me, their looks filled with appreciation and admiration. Maddox walks over, kneeling down in front of me. His big hand takes my chin.

  “Who hit you?”

  “It doesn’t matter, Maddox,” I whisper. “It’s done.”

  His eyes scan my face. “So fuckin’ proud of you.”

  I force a weak smile. “I guess we just started a war?”

  He turns to Krypt, giving him a long stare. “I think we fuckin’ did, but we’re ready for it.”

  Shit, I hope they are.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  ASH

  I stroke Claire’s hair as she sleeps, staring down at her, thanking God that she made it through this. I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to her. Her face is messed up, and she sat in silence as I cleaned her. I know she’s scared, and I can’t blame her. I can’t even imagine what she went through.

  The door creaks, filling the silent room with a loud sound. I turn and see Krypt and Santana at the door. Santana has a dark, angry black eye, and a cut that looks like it hurts. I’m forever grateful to her; she risked her life for my friend. Krypt smiles at me, but it’s strained. “How is she?” he asks.

  “She’s sleeping, which is good,” I say quietly.

  I stand and walk over to them, not wanting to wake Claire. Santana reaches out and takes my hand. We all step out of the room, closing the door. Krypt turns to us, his eyes on me. “Spend some time together. I got shit to do with Maddox.”

  I nod, and his hand reaches up to stroke a thumb over my bottom lip. He turns and disappears down the hall. I face Santana, smiling at her. “I can’t tell you how much I want to hug you right now, Santana, but I know you hurt your ribs quite badly. What you did...you’re...amazing.”

  She shrugs. “Eh, what can I say?”

  I beam. “You’re a strong girl.”

  She smiles, but it wobbles slightly. “I did what I had to do.”

  I reach out, putting my hands on her shoulders. “No, you did an amazing thing.”

  Her bottom lip trembles, and I pull her into my arms – screw her ribs. I knew she was hurting; God how could she not be? It would have been so hard to do what she did. I rub her back carefully, wanting to give her whatever I can.

  Maddox walks out of his office and stops when he sees her, his eyes narrowing. I shake my head at him, and I can see the clear anguish in his gaze as he fights to stop himself from walking over.

  He stares at her for a long minute before disappearing down the hall. Santana pulls back, wiping her eyes. “So sorry.”

  “Don’t you be sorry,” I say, chastising her softly. “You don’t ever have to say sorry.”

  She smiles weakly. “I’m just glad she’s okay, you know?”

  “I know.”

  “I’m going to have a sleep. I need it.”

  We hug again before she disappears down the hall. I watch her go with a true, warm smile. Santana and I will be great friends. I just know it.

  ~*~*~*~

  A week passes with nothing. It’s eerily silent, and it’s scaring everyone. I have no doubt Howard will plot his revenge, but it all comes down to when. Santana is back to her usual bubbly self, and Claire is recovering each day. Leo is out of the hospital and has gone home, but he calls Claire each day, making sure she’s okay. That warms my heart.

  I’m walking down the halls one day when I hear Maddox and Krypt’s voices. I peer into the room they’re in, about to announce myself, but their conversation has my mouth closing. Krypt is leaning against Maddox’s desk, and Maddox is pacing, arms crossed.

  “You need to fuckin’ tell her, Maddox. If she finds out you know, and you’ve known all these years, she’s goin’ to hate you.”

  “I’ll risk it, Krypt. I need to know more before she can ever find out. It’s going to do enough damage to her to find out what I’ve kept from her as it is. The least I can do is get the information right so I can help her when it comes the time to tell her.”

  “She risked her life for this club, you owe it to her,” Krypt says, his eyes hard.

  “Don’t tell me what I owe her, Krypt. I know what’s good for her, and it’s why I’ve kept it from her for five years.”

  “It’ll crush her, break her into a thousand pieces. She cares about you, Maddox. You don’t tell her this shit soon, that’ll be gone forever. You willin’ to risk that?”

  Maddox steps closer to him. “Don’t fuckin’ talk to me about carin’ about someone, Krypt. I’m doin’ this because I care.”

  “Fuck,” Krypt growls. “Fine, but you’re goin’ to have to face this when it comes out.”

  “And I fuckin’ will,” Maddox says, running his hands through his hair. “But that time ain’t now.”

  “You’re holdin’ back on her, because you know she’s goin’ to hate you. You’re takin’ every, last moment with her before it’s revealed. You selfish prick.”

  Maddox snarls, baring his teeth in a dominating way. “She is all I’ve breathed for five years. I’ll do whatever I can to see her fuckin’ smile every morning for as long as possible. I will tell her Krypt. When I’m ready.”

  “Fine, you fuckin’ moron,” Krypt grunts, turning away.

  I stare, mouth opened just slightly. Maddox is hiding something big from Santana, that’s clear by the heated conversation between the two of them. What it is, though, I have no clue. Obviously it’s enough to destroy her, because Maddox is holding back for a reason and that reason is because he knows she’ll hate him for it.

  Secrets, they have a way of destroying peoples lives.

  I hope Maddox knows what he’s doing.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Chaos wakes me from my nap.

  Sirens. A lot of them.

  Then a loud booming voice. “Come out with your hands up. Bring out the hostage.”

  I sit up in bed, rubbing my eyes. I look over to see Krypt is no longer beside me. We fell asleep that way, but certainly didn’t wake up like it, it would seem. I slip out of the bed and pull on some clothes before staring out the window. There are police cars everywhere.

  My eyes widen and I spin around, running out of the room. The guys are in the living area, talking frantically. Krypt notices me and reaches out, snatching me close to him. “Don’t go out there,” he orders. “Under any circumstances.”

  “Why are they here, Krypt?”

  “One fuckin’ guess,” Maddox barks. “Howard gave them our information; he’s settin’ us up. We not only have fuckin’ Claire, but Ash, too. Fuck.”

  “What are you going to do?” I ask, my eyes darting around the room for Claire.

  “We don’t got a fuckin’ choice,” Maddox snaps. “We gotta show with the girls.”

  “No fuckin’ way,” Krypt says. “They see me, I’m goin’ back to prison.”

  “They got this place surrounded, Krypt. Nothin’ we can do.”

  My heart twists and panic fills me. I don’t want Krypt to go back to prison. Maddox reaches forward, taking my arm. Claire appears beside us, reaching her hand out to him. He stares at her, before curling his hand around hers and pulling us to the front door.

  “Fuck, Maddox, there has to be another way,” Krypt barks.

  “It’s okay,” I whisper, swallowing down my tears. “I’ll tell them the truth. It’s going to be fine, Krypt.”

  Maddox opens the door, stepping out.

  “Let them go,” a police officer barks.

  Maddox l
ets us go, and puts his hands up. I put mine up too, and so does Claire.

  “Come,” an officer encourages us, his gun raised and pointed at Maddox.

  “They aren’t holding us hostage,” I say, my voice wobbly.

  “Just come closer and we can talk.”

  “I won’t come closer until you listen,” I say. This time, my voice is stronger. “They aren’t holding us hostage.”

  “Miss—”

  “She’s right,” Claire says. “The person who took me from my home and beat me was Howard. This club kept me safe.”

  The officer stares at her. “If you’ll come to the station to make a statement—”

  “No,” I say defiantly. “As soon as we’re gone, you’ll hurt these guys behind me, and they’ve done nothing but keep us safe.”

  “Tell me how you got here, Ash?” the cop says, his eyes still trained on Maddox.

  “Howard ambushed the prison transfer, killing everyone. Beau Dawson saved me, by getting me out and helping me.”

  “Then why didn’t you turn yourselves in?”

  “Because the guards are corrupt and were making death threats. We were unsafe and scared.”

  He narrows his eyes. “What proof do you have of this?”

  I meet his eyes dead on. “I’m sure you found your proof when you checked the crime scene.”

  I don’t dare mention that I know it wasn’t Maddox’s gun at the scene. It would give it away. He set Howard up, and I don’t want to ruin that.

  “After all,” I go on. “If you thought it was this club who took Beau and I, you would have come in before this.”

  “We raided the house,” he says, his voice gruff. “You weren’t here.”

  “That’s because we were trapped in the wilderness for days, hungry and alone.”

  He narrows his eyes at me. “And you expect me to believe this story?”

  “There are enough witnesses, right here.”

  He flicks his eyes to Claire. “You say this club didn’t hurt you?”

  “They saved me from that monster,” she whispers. “I was out jogging one morning, and he snatched me.”

  “And what about Beau? He’s still up for murder charges. You send him forward, and I’ll consider your story.”

  No.

  My knees begin to shake as reality hits me. Krypt, back in jail. No. I turn to Maddox, my eyes welling with tears. How the hell can we get away with this? We have proof for everything else, but Krypt killing Johan cannot be faked.

  “Where are your witnesses who proved Beau killed that man?”

  The voice comes from the group of bikers standing to the left. An older man comes out, his long grey beard swishing. I’ve seen him around the club, though he hardly says a great deal. Maddox told me he’s a family member of his and has cancer but he’s refusing treatment, so he’s just spending his last days at the club. His name is Whiskey, and he’s at least seventy years old.

  The officer turns and stares at him. “Until the investigation is finished we need to—”

  “How many fuckin’ witnesses?”

  “It was a chaotic time; gunshots, people were forced down, no security . . . It hasn’t been easy. We’ve had numerous different stories, and it’s come up that some of the shots came from outside the café. We are investigating this. Enough people have come forward and said Beau was there with a gun, he made them lay on the floor—”

  “Yeah, but did they fuckin’ see him pull the trigger?”

  “At this point we can’t share any of that-”

  “Bull-fuckin’-shit!”

  “He was the only one in that café.”

  “Wrong,” the old man says. “I was there too, and I was the one who pulled the trigger. If you’ve done your job properly you should know that. In fact, if you’re a good cop at all, you would have noticed Beau didn’t have a gun on him when you arrived.”

  The cop studies him. I smother a gasp, because it makes sense to me now why Whiskey took Beau’s gun before he got arrested. Had he planned on turning himself in all along, even though he didn’t commit the crime? Why wouldn’t he have come forward earlier?

  Whiskey continues. “He didn’t have it because it was me that pulled the trigger. I came back into the café; Beau already had the people on the ground. I saw that no good son-of-a-bitch sittin’ there tauntin’ him, and I wrestled the gun from Beau’s hand and shot him right in the head. You raided the clubhouse; you’ve got the gun, do you not? If you do, you’ll have seen my finger prints on it.”

  “Yes, but-”

  “Yes but nothin’. I shot Johan Reed, and I shot him because I know what he did to my boy. I know what he fuckin’ did and I made him pay for it. However, he was the only one I shot. I did not kill the other members of his family, and neither did Beau...but you know that, too. Don’t ya?”

  I gasp, and so does Maddox from behind me.

  “You understand that you’re confessing to the murder of Johan Reed, and that you’ll go to prison for a very long time?”

  “I know what I’m sayin’, pig. I’m not a fuckin’ idiot. I killed Johan Reed. I wasn’t there when you arrived because I was chasin’ the fuckers that made the other shots.”

  “Why not speak up earlier?”

  “Because I was cleanin’ shit up—needed to make sure things would be good for my family when I got locked up. Then shit went down with Beau, and you know what happened from there . . .”

  It’s not much of an answer, but he’s a biker. He isn’t going to give much more.

  The door swings open and Krypt storms out, charging down towards the man. Whiskey’s hands wrap around Krypt’s shoulders, stopping him. He says something that has Krypt’s fists clenching. The officers pull Krypt off before taking Whiskey and cuffing him.

  “You’re under the arrest for the murder of Johan Reed. Anything you say or do will be used against you in the court of law.”

  “Yeah, fuckin’ yeah,” he snorts.

  Tears run down my cheeks, because I know what this man is doing for Krypt. He’s giving him freedom. The officer turns to Krypt.

  “You’re under arrest too.”

  “What fuckin’ for?” Krypt snarls.

  “At this stage, we will need evidence to back up this claim. You escaped from prison, and we need to ensure your involvement in that was nonexistent. Then, if the old man’s story checks out, you will be released with conditions.”

  My tears get heavier as Krypt’s gazes turns to me. “I’m comin’ back, baby.”

  I nod as a hand squeezes my arm. It’s Maddox.

  “We’ll get him outta there.”

  “I know,” I croak as the officer pushes both men into the car. “We need to take those guards down, Maddox. We need proof they’re corrupt.”

  “Only one way to do that, honey,” he murmurs. “You’re going to make a visit.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  My heart pounds as I approach Tristan’s front door. I don’t know if this will work, but it’s worth a shot. To get evidence on Howard is next to impossible; the man is smart. But what he didn’t consider in his plan was that I am close to Tristan, and all I need is a confession from him. Maddox and the guys are close, in case anything goes wrong.

  This was Maddox’s plan, and I’ll admit it’s a clever one. If it works. I have a recorder in my pocket, so tiny it’s barely noticeable. Maddox didn’t want wires, because he had no doubt Tristan would ask. I raise my hand and knock on the door, then I take a step back.

  A moment later, the door swings open and Tristan appears. His eyes widen when he sees me. I know I have to act this out well, so I raise my hand, and I slap him across the face. “How could you?”

  “Shit, Ash, what are you doing here?”

  “Doing here?” I screech. “Don’t pretend you don’t know. How could you, Tristan? I thought we were friends.”

  His eyes scan the street and road, and then he mutters. “Come in.”

  “I don’t think I trust that,” I say, my
voice wobbling for effect.

  “I’m alone.”

  “You are the last person I thought would do such a horrible thing. Really, Tristan? Guards died because of you.”

  He narrows his eyes. “You wired?”

  “What?” I gasp.

  Maddox was right.

  “Is this a set-up?”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Turn around and lift your shirt.”

  I roll my eyes dramatically, and I do so, lifting my shirt’s front and back. I even slide my jacket off. He leans forward, patting my pockets and legs, before staring at me. Lucky I taped the recorder in my cleavage.

  “Why the hell would I be wired?” I ask.

  He glares at me. “Because your boyfriend got arrested.”

  “Beau?” I ask. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

  “Can we do this inside?”

  “I’m not sure I can trust you, Tristan,” I say sadly. “Why would you do something like that?”

  He growls and leans in close. “You have no fuckin’ idea how much money we were paid to pass information out, and set that ambush up.”

  Shit. I just realized if Tristan talks about the ambush, he’ll give away that Maddox got there before Howard. I quickly change the subject.

  “I don’t care about the ambush. I’m talking about lying to me, and feeding information out of the prison.”

  “He was giving me a lot of money; he set me up. It was just fuckin’ information on one person. It was only one fuckin’ job.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” I cry. “Claire and Leo got hurt because of you. I nearly got killed.”

  “Do you think I wanted them to shoot at you? Fuck, Ash, of course I didn’t, but you knew too much; you’d seen too much. I didn’t want it anymore than you did, but I had no choice.”

  “And Claire and Leo?” I whisper, my voice shaky. “They didn’t deserve any of it.”

  “We needed to draw you out. You were hiding with that club, and Howard was growing impatient. We needed to scare you, to give you a reason to hand yourself over. The sooner you were killed, the sooner our plan could continue.”