Chapter 21
I’ve never felt possessive over something the way I do her. Having her on my saddle, clinging to me tight as I ride through the streets my club is gonna own, makes coming back here worth it. I have a whole new sense of purpose now. I don’t wanna make this club a success just to right the wrongs of my past. I’m really starting to see a future, and Peyton is a huge part of it. All I have to do now is find the guy who hurt her and make him suffer.
She puts on a brave face and pretends everything's okay, but I hear her begging him to stop in her sleep. It breaks my heart and fills me with fury and there's no outlet for it because in those moments it’s my job to comfort her.
I don’t have a destination in mind, I just wanted to get us away from the club for a while. I pull up when I find a nice view of the ocean and love how excited she looks when she gets off the back.
“That was amazing. I thought I’d be scared but—” She interrupts herself to kiss me, and I can’t help wondering what a girl so full of life and enthusiasm, despite what she’s been through, would see in a guy like me. Now that I’ve given in and accepted that I want her, I have a whole new problem to face up to. I’m so scared of hurting her, I don’t wanna be the next trauma that she suffers. It’s one of the reasons I never let myself act on my feelings sooner and I can’t lose sight of that. I may not be an expert on the subject, but I do know that love comes with a price and I’m already wondering what hers will be.
Peyton seems happy with the simple things in life, she appreciates everything around her like she’s been locked up in a cage and newly released.
My cell rings and when I see Wrath’s number, despite not wanting to, I have to answer.
“Ya need to get back to the club, I found somethin’,” he tells me, not waiting to hear what I have to say before he hangs up. He sounded on edge and since he’s already a walking ball of frustration, I decide it’s time to head home.
“You ready to take a ride back?” I feel bad knowing that she doesn’t get away from the club often, but the urgency in Wrath’s voice has me concerned.
“Let’s do it.” She places the helmet back on her head and smiles
“It took her some time but she found it.” Wrath slaps a document on my desk and sits back smugly in his chair.
I lift up the copy of my sister's death certificate and study it hard.
“So, what are we supposed to do with this?” I ask, pissed off at the fact I came back from my ride for something that I already knew existed.
“I don’t know, but it’s a start.”
“Give up.” I toss it back at him and stand up.
“You know what, Raze, you're really startin’ to piss me off.” He proves he ain’t going nowhere.
“Watch ya tone, I’m still your president,” I warn him.
“You wanted me, you told Jimmer you would only do this with me at your side. You want me to suffer, don’t ya? You haven’t forgiven me, you never will. Don’t ya see that this is me tryin’ to fix what happened?”
“No, Wrath, this is you being selfish. She’s moved on, away from this club and away from us. She doesn’t need fixin’.”
“And how do you know that?” He frowns at me.
“Because I know Jimmer Carson, and he wouldn’t have kept the fact that she was alive from me if he didn’t have a good reason. Eden just wanted a fresh start.”
“So why come back here, why take the seat? You said yourself you ain’t a leader, you don’t speak to me, you don’t speak to them,” he points toward the office door. “You don’t even speak to your old man.” I resist the urge to fuckin’ swing at him when he starts talking about shit he knows nothing about.
“Don’t bring him into this. We all got our problems, Wrath, and this…” I pick up the death certificate. “Is not one of yours.” I slam out the door taking it with me.
Peyton is at home playing with that stupid raven she rescued a few weeks ago. He barely even goes in the carrier anymore, just hops around the place like he owns it. I swear if that fucker put the effort in he’d be able to fly, but why would he when he’s got all he needs right here?
“You okay?” She must pick up on my mood because she bites her lip in that sexy awkward way that never fails to make me want to be inside her.
“It’s just Wrath, I’ll figure it out,” I snap.
“Sonny was telling me about the two of you the other day, he said you used to be close.” She looks like she’s feeling sorry for me and I hate that.
“I was his sponsor,” I admit, I haven’t delved into my past with Peyton yet and there's a very good reason for that. Everything about this girl is so fresh and new, I don’t wanna taint her with the past of this place.
“And that means?” She moves away from the table and straddles my lap.
“To be a prospect you need a sponsor, someone who’ll take responsibility for ya, put ya on the right path.”
“And wasn’t Wrath’s daddy the president before you?” She tilts her head, proving that she’s been doing some homework.
“Yeah, but they were always buttin’ heads, Wrath had a different vision to his dad and so did I. So I stepped up.”
“And taught him everything you know.” Her eyes sparkle with seduction and I slide my hand around her throat.
“Not everythin’.” I drag her closer and grip her bottom lip between my teeth until she squeals.
“So what went wrong, why did you fall out?”
“That’s not my story to tell.” Things turn serious again when I think back to the day he told me what had happened and how scared he was.
I think of the years I spent blaming myself for it and although I got no intention of turning my sister’s life upside down again, I realize that I do need some answers. I need to know who helped her fake her death and I know a good place to start.
“I gotta go take care of somethin’.” I lift Peyton with me as I stand up and place her ass on the table. I can feel my sister's fake death certificate burning a hole in my pocket now, and all the questions are going round in my head. “I’ll bring somethin’ nice back for dinner,” I promise.
“Don’t forget those seeds Reggie likes.” She grins.
“You named the thing?” I look down to the floor where he’s strutting around and he tilts his head at me when he notices me watching.
“Of course, he needs a name. How else am I supposed to call him?”
I shake my head and kiss her before I head out because she’s too damn fuckin’ cute.
I don’t even know if I’m at the right hospital, but this one is the closest to where Eden lived, so it’s the best place to start. I follow the signs that lead toward the mortuary, heading down the long white corridors and trying not to arouse any suspicion. When I get to the desk in front of the double doors I find it empty.
I need to speak to someone, find out how I can talk to the man who signed off on my sister's death. He must have been paid off which means he’ll know who helped her orchestrate this whole thing.
I wait for over five minutes before I get impatient, and when I try to rattle the door to get some attention, I’m surprised when they simply open up.
Behind them is another corridor, which I follow all the way down, peering through the doors as I go and trying to find someone who can help me.
There’s an eerie feeling in the air, one you’d expect to feel around so much death, and when I hear the sound of humming come from the double doors at the bottom, I slowly open them and check inside.
I stare at the woman wearing ripped jeans and Converse under her lab coat, as she bops her head to whatever she’s listening to through her headphones.
I watch her pull a long string of intestines from the body in front of her and then dump them in a large silver bowl.
“Ain’t no lie, bye, bye…byeeeee—” She stops singing when she turns to grab something from her tray and catches me watching her.
“Hey.” She snaps off one of her gloves and uses that hand to slide the headphones off her head. “Sorry, Nsync always gets me carried away.” She smiles before looking me up and down like she’s expecting an explanation to why I’m here.
I place my hand under my nose when the smell of the body carries its way over to me and she laughs.
“You get used to that after a while, at least this one's fresh. It’s the ones that people have tried to hide that are the worst, you know I once had a guy whose wife tried to hide him in a?—”
“I’m looking for Mr. Tinsley. He’s a medical examiner,” I interrupt her, wanting to get my answers and then get the fuck outta here.
“Tinsley?” She laughs.
“Yeah, you know him?”
“I know him.” She nods and when I take another glance at the naked corpse with his guts hanging out I point to the door.
“Any chance we could…”
“Oh, I’m sure he won’t mind.” She urges me to continue, and when I stare back at her helplessly she laughs again.
“I’m kidding, come on, step into my office.” She moves past me and opens the door back into the corridor, then leads me into a tiny, very chaotic office space.
“Have a seat.” She clears some paperwork off the chair so I can sit and I look away when I see a photograph of a woman with half a face. I’ve seen some pretty gruesome shit in my time, I’ve even been the cause of it, but something about the way her hair is the same color as Peyton’s makes my stomach churn.
“So, what do ya want with Tinsley?” The girl pulls a Snickers bar from her top drawer and tucks right in.
“I’m sorry, my manners.” She holds her hand over her mouth as she chews. “You want one?” Reaching back in her drawer she pulls out another and offers it across to me.”
“I’m good,” I politely decline.
“I got all kinds in here, I bet you're a Hershey’s guy.” She points her finger at me.
“Honestly, I’m fine.” I clear my throat so we can get back to why I’m here.
“So, Tinsley signed this death certificate.” I pull it outta my cut pocket and lay it out in front of her with all her other paperwork.
“Right?” She leans forward and studies it over.
“Well, thing is, I’ve learned recently that this girl who he signed off as dead, is still very much alive.”
She sits back in her chair and the way she looks at me feels scrutinizing.
“Well, I would tell ya to ask him why that is yourself, but he’s dead.” She passes it back over to me, seeming uninterested.
“Please, if he worked here you must have some notes or somethin’. I really need to know who helped her cover this up. This girl, she’s my sister,” I add, hoping she might take a little pity in that fact.
“You're a Soul.” Her eyes glance at my cut. “President,” she adds, obviously impressed, when she notices my badge.
“New president. I know the old one made some mistakes, I’m here to make right on ‘em.”
“I was an intern when Tinsley signed this off, and your sister wasn’t the only one. Tinsley was always happy to take handouts,” she explains, giving me some hope.
“So, you remember this? Do you know who paid him?”
“I don’t, but I’ll bet you do. He wore a cut just like yours. An older man with gray hair, kinda hot if you're into the older guy thing.”
“Gray hair, and a patch like mine?” I tap my president badge.
“I don’t know, maybe. I was staying behind after hours when I shouldn’t have been and when I heard their voices I had to hide. I barely saw, but I heard everything.
“Does the name, Jimmer Carson, ring any bells?” I ask, wondering how deep into this he was.
“It was a long time ago.” She shakes her head. “I just remember him saying that the girl deserved a fresh start. We’d had a Jane Doe come in that day who had died of an overdose and Tinsley did his thing. I’m sorry I can’t help you more.” She smiles sadly.
I go to stand up feeling deflated. I really hate the idea of Jimmer being involved in this web of lies, but at the same time, it sounds like he had Eden’s best interests at heart.
I just can’t figure out why he would send me here and have that agent, Consuela, tell me all this now.
“So, you're going to fix all that Cliff Adams broke?” She asks me before I make it to the door.
“You know Cliff?” She earns herself my attention again.
“Someone had to take over from Tinsley, and in a city where people need to disappear it’s handy to have a medical examiner on your side.” She shrugs.
“Wait…You work for the club?”
“Correction. I worked for the club. I’m all about outlaw justice, but that asshole took advantage. I may do handouts, but I don’t do unethical ones. I made that clear from the start.” She takes another bite from her candy bar looking unfazed.
“Handy to know.” I nod at her before I see myself out.
“I’ll be seeing ya, Prez.” She calls after me as I walk up the corridor and head back home where I know my girl will be waiting for me.