Chapter Thirty-Four
James
Ace calls Maple, and it doesn’t take long for them to confirm my theory.
“Cruz is the one who logged the evidence that put that guy away. He wasn’t even on the case,” he says.
I glance at Theo, who’s sitting on the edge of Luna’s couch, elbows on his knees and forehead resting on his fists as he looks down at the floor. He hasn’t spoken since I said his daughter’s name.
“Why didn’t we know this?” I ask, not really expecting an answer. To get one, I’d have to call my dad. But if I’m right, then he’s known this whole time.
For eight years, he’s known that his granddaughter was killed as revenge for something he did.
And he kept that from us. Did Scottie know? Is that why she killed herself? Did she feel guilty for the part she played seducing that Fiver?
If I call Dad, and he tells me that he knew, I don’t know what I’ll do. He’s my only blood relative still around. I can’t lose him. But if he admits that he kept the reason for my niece's death a secret for eight years, then I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive him.
“Where are June and Sadie?” Ace asks.
“June’s house,” I answer.
“Is Evelyn there?”
I frown. “Yeah. Why?”
Deep lines carve into Ace’s forehead and his shoulders tense. “Bowie will be going after them. None of them are safe.”
“I can call Sadie.”
“I got it. You talk to him.” Ace jerks his chin in Theo’s direction, then pulls out his phone and presses a few buttons before holding it to his ear.
I watch, my confusion mounting, as a few seconds pass before Ace speaks, sounding more urgent than ever.
“I know, I’m sorry, just listen. You need to leave.
Please.” There’s a pause, then, "I don’t care, Ev.
Get out of there. Tell the others to come to the clubhouse.
” A pause. He turns his back to me as if that’ll stop me from hearing his conversation.
“Then you come too! But none of you should be alone and unprotected right now.”
What the fuck?
“Please,” Ace says in a voice I’ve never heard from him before. “Tell June and Sadie the guys need them. It’s serious. They’ll come.” Another pause. I look back at Theo, who hasn’t moved a muscle. Heartbreak and panic for my brother forms a cage around my lungs.
Ace lets out a heavy sigh of relief. “Thank you.” He hangs up and slowly turns to me. “They’re coming here.” His expression is stony and he glares at me, as if daring me to ask questions.
Maybe I would have if there weren't more important things going on.
“We can’t just wait around for them to make a move. Not now,” I say. “We have enough to send to the cops. I say we do that, then attack while they’re scrambling. T?”
I turn to face him. His entire body is pulled so taut that a small poke could shatter him.
“Theo?” I take a careful step forward. Then he speaks and I freeze, unable to breathe after hearing how cold and broken he sounds.
“Seven years. Ten months. Twenty-six days. That’s how long I’ve lived without my baby girl.
That’s how long I’ve known she was taken from me and went through unimaginable horrors before she died because I looked away.
For seven years, ten months, and twenty-six days, I’ve woken up each morning to remember all over again what happened and gone to sleep each night wondering if the next day will finally be when I break and can’t take it anymore.
Seven years. Ten months. Twenty-six days.
” He says the last six words with heavy pauses between them.
Each one is a white-hot boulder landing on my shoulders, and I want to buckle under the weight.
Except if I do that, then Theo will be left to carry it all alone.
“Her killer was supposed to be dead. Tortured and murdered in prison at my command. But he’s been out there, free, for nearly eight years.
EIGHT FUCKING YEARS.” The last sentence comes out as a scream, and I flinch.
Then Theo jumps up, tossing the coffee table on its side.
He grabs the lamp by the couch, hurling it across the room so it shatters on the opposite wall.
He yanks the TV off its stand and throws it on the floor.
Next, he grabs one of the kitchen stools and swings it through the air, breaking it to pieces over the counter.
Then he punches the wall, his fist going straight through and sending spiderwebs of cracks throughout the drywall.
He stops and heaves in a breath, his back shaking.
I stay quiet, knowing he needs a moment to feel the agony. Before I can speak, the front door opens and all three of us turn to find Luna standing there, eyes wide as she surveys the damage done to her apartment.
After a beat, she asks, “What can I do?”
“Get the officers and bring them up here. Tell Benny to wait for June, Sadie, Evelyn, and Rose, and bring June up when they get here.”
“Got it.” She turns and heads back down the stairs.
“I have to kill him,” Theo says, voice low.
“I know,” I say. “But we have to be smart about it. We can’t let the need for revenge blind us.
” I feel like we’re in a hamster wheel, reliving the same pain every few days.
It’s only been a week since Matthew died.
Now this? How long will logic keep us in check before we say fuck it and go straight for Bowie?
“Kip and Daryus might’ve known.”
I nod. Kip and Daryus are the only officers who held their positions eight years ago.
Valor was a member then but didn’t become secretary until a few months after Theo took over as president.
Raph joined as tail gunner when he left the Salt Lake City chapter three years ago.
Luna has been our treasurer for less than two years.
“Kip would’ve told us,” I say, with no real conviction behind the words. Saints are loyal above all else, but he would’ve had to choose between loyalty to my dad by keeping his secret and loyalty to Theo by telling him the truth about his daughter’s kidnapping.
“Like Rocket would’ve told us?”
The betrayal feels like swallowing a cactus. Will I be feeling the tiny spikes stab my insides for the rest of my life?
“Do I need to leave?” Ace asks.
“No,” Theo says.
“But this is club business.”
“You’re my brother.”
“Not really.”
“You can stay,” I say. “We’ll probably need you.”
He grinds his teeth, on the verge of arguing further. I’m not going to force the guy to stay, but something tells me he’s not leaving. Sure enough, he crosses his arms and leans back against the wall.
The silence is broken only by Theo’s stuttering breaths as he fights the desire to scream, cry, anything to get the poisonous emotions out of his body. Then the front door opens and Raph walks in.
“What’s up? Luna said you needed us. Damn, who was the tornado?” He says, completely misreading the room. “Hey. Ace, right?”
Ace lifts one brow, then grunts in acknowledgement.
Next, Daryus stomps in, takes in the state of the apartment with a scowl, then drops on the couch to wait. Last, Valor, Kip, and Luna arrive, shutting the door behind them.
“What’s going on?” Kip asks.
His voice does it. It cracks the tenuous control Theo was managing over his anger. He reaches over the counter, grabs the glass container of hand soap, and lobs it at Kip, who ducks just in time.
“What the hell, T?” Daryus shouts.
“You shut up if you don’t want me to shoot you in the head,” Theo shouts, then turns back to Kip. “What happened eight years ago when the Saints raided a Fiver’s stash house in retaliation for Wrench’s ol' lady OD’ing?”
I watch Kip closely, searching for any hint that he has no idea what happened. But the color drains from his face and he takes a step back.
Theo grabs the dish soap container and throws it hard at Kip. He dodges, and it becomes lodged in the wall.
“Damn, nice throw,” I say.
“Why don’t you tell the others what’s going on, Kip?” Theo says, sneering at his third in command.
“T, we didn’t—” Daryus starts.
“If he tries to shoot you, I won’t stop him,” I interrupt. “I will help him bury your body.”
“That’s my job,” Ace says.
“Boss, what happened?” Raph asks softly, as if afraid he’ll get something thrown at him next.
“Kip?” Theo says.
Kip swallows and drops his eyes. “The raid didn’t go well. Several people died. Including a young boy. We didn’t know it at the time, but he was Bowie’s pseudo-nephew. His dead best friend’s son. Obviously, Bowie was upset. He decided to get revenge. And…”
“And what, Kip?” I demand.
He finally looks up, and I have to give him props for having the balls to meet Theo’s eyes. “And Bowie retaliated. We killed his kid. So, he…”
And there went his balls. Kip’s lips press tightly together, and he pulls in a breath through his nose rather than finishing the goddamn sentence.
“So, he?” Luna asks, her voice drenched in fear.
“So, he killed our kid,” Daryus finishes. “To get revenge, Bowie took Rocket’s granddaughter.”
The silence is a smoke that fills the space, heavy and choking, bending each second under the weight of unspoken grief.
Then the door opens, letting out the smoke, allowing my lungs to fully expand again.
June walks in, her eyes finding Theo instantly.
Upon seeing her, he relaxes, like she’s the only steady thing in a room that's always spinning. She rushes to him, ignoring everyone else. There’s no way for her to know what’s happened, but she clearly senses it’s a big deal, because she pulls him into her, running a hand through his hair.
She’s whispering something, but it’s too quiet for me to make out.
Watching them makes the subtle ache in my chest burn white hot. I don’t even know what’s causing it until June turns her head slightly. “Sadie and the others are down in the clubhouse.”
The ache simultaneously deepens and loosens, clearly reacting to the news about where Sadie is.
I should stay here. I need to help Theo and the others figure out next steps. But every nerve longs to be near Sadie. To feel her touch and comfort amid this emotional storm.