Chapter 21 Dash #2
“You’re talking about following the rules.” Dad barked a laugh. “We’re not great at working with the cops.”
“You’re also not great at keeping the people in your life alive by breaking the rules, so maybe it’s time to try a different approach.”
Damn, woman. She wasn’t pulling any punches. I flinched at her words. Emmett did too. Because no one talked to Dad like that, especially in this room.
But she was fearless. The fire in her eyes, that blaze, made my chest swell. Was it with pride? Or love? Both?
I think I’d fallen for her the night she’d kicked me off her front porch. Or maybe it was the day she’d shown up at the garage, bursting with attitude and determination.
“She’s right,” I told Dad. “Not just because it’s legal, but because the Warriors will never expect it. Let’s use the cops to our favor for once.”
Emmett nodded. “If Tucker did know about this, then he’s waiting and watching for us to retaliate. The cops showing up at his door might be a surprise.”
“We need to find evidence, solid evidence, and fast,” I said. “The state’s attorney will set a trial date soon, and once that starts, it’s going to be even harder to get people to consider another suspect. We need them to delay.”
“What do we do?” Dad asked.
I looked to Bryce. “You need to write a story. Marcus is a good cop, but he’s not going to believe me if I walk in there with new evidence.
Not when his mind’s made up that Dad is guilty.
We need to plant the seed that Dad’s knife was stolen.
Show the picture of someone breaking into the clubhouse.
Marcus won’t be able to ignore it if you print it. ”
“I’ll start on it today. We can feature it on Sunday. But . . .” She locked eyes with Dad across the table. “It would mean more if I could print the reason you and Amina were in the motel. It makes you more human if people know you were there to discuss your daughter.”
Dad blew out a deep breath but shook his head. “Not until I meet her. I owe her that much. She shouldn’t learn I’m her father from a newspaper. Like you said, she thinks I killed her mother.”
“I might be able to help with that.” Bryce raised her hand, like she was volunteering to go into battle.
“We’re going to get lucky on timing. When I went to visit Genevieve last weekend, she said she was coming up Sunday to see Amina’s grave.
I’ll call her and double-check she’s coming.
And I guess . . . tell her when she gets here.
Hope she doesn’t pick up a newspaper that morning.
I don’t know. But maybe I can smooth it over. ”
“Do it,” I said. “We need the story to shed more light on the relationship between Dad and Amina. To give it some context and show Dad wouldn’t kill her. I think my sister would be a good way to do that.”
“I feel like I’m about to blindside her, Dash.” Bryce’s worried eyes met mine. “I feel terrible already.”
“Be gentle,” Dad murmured. “Please.”
“I will,” she promised.
“And we’ll keep searching for more.” Emmett knocked his knuckles on the table. “Draven, you call Tucker.”
He nodded. “I’ll go meet with him. Alone.”
“Keep us posted.” I pushed away from the chair, helping pull Bryce’s away so she could stand.
Then we all walked out of the clubhouse, the plan in place.
I escorted Bryce to her car. Her eagerness to get to the newspaper was palpable, but before she left, I wanted to make sure she was all right. “Feeling better?”
“Not really, but I’ll be fine. It’s just a stomach ache. That smell in the clubhouse was”—she gagged—“potent. I’m going to get to work. Call me later?”
I nodded. “I need to get caught up on some jobs here. We’ve been leaning pretty heavy on Isaiah and Presley to run the garage while we’ve had this extra shit happening. Time for me to get my hands dirty and finish some cars.”
“Be sure to wash those hands before dinner.” She winked, standing on her toes for a kiss. It was a short goodbye. Nothing out of the ordinary for most couples. But we weren’t a couple.
We hadn’t made a commitment. We hadn’t made promises. Except as I stood and watched her leave, I realized that no other woman would kiss me again.
Bryce was it for me. The one.
Dad’s shadow crossed mine. “You love her.”
I didn’t respond. Bryce would be the first to hear the words. I took a step toward the garage. “Need to get to work.”
“Dash.” Dad’s hand flew out, stopping me. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want you to go to prison, not when you didn’t kill Amina. But you and me? We’re done.”
His shoulders fell. “I understand.”
“I need some time without you here at the garage. Some space to think. You’re not the man I thought you were.”
“I’ve never been a hero, son.”
I met his brown gaze. “But you were to me.”
The blow hit Dad hard. His face tightened like he’d been sucker punched and was fighting to breathe.
Leaving him alone on the asphalt, I walked toward the garage, then paused and looked back while Dad was still in earshot. “Nick deserves to know. Either you tell him, or I will.”
He simply nodded.
And two hours later, as I was flat on my back underneath the Mustang, the engine of Dad’s motorcycle revved as he left the garage. My phone rang thirty seconds later.
Pushing out from the car, I dug my phone from my pocket. Nick’s name flashed on the screen. “Hey.”
“Guess you expected this call.”
“Was hoping for it. I take it Dad called you?”
“Yep. Sounds like we have a sister.” The calm tone in Nick’s voice surprised me. I figured, given his past relationship with Dad, he’d be furious.
“You don’t sound upset.”
“I’m surprised. It wasn’t easy to hear and maybe I haven’t wrapped my head around it all. But mostly, I’m disappointed. Sad for Mom. Glad she never knew. But no, I’m not angry. Far as I’m concerned, Dad got knocked off his pedestal a long time ago. He’s a flawed man, Dash. Always has been.”
“I don’t know what to do about it.”
“Nothing to do. Move on.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” I walked over to the open garage door, looking outside. There was a car lined up in front of each bay. Emmett, Isaiah and Leo were all working fast to get them through the queue.
It was a good business, this garage. Provided us with decent livings. Just like the garage Nick ran in Prescott.
Move on. That didn’t seem all that bad now that I had Bryce. We each had decent jobs, nice homes, and there were a lot of people who didn’t even have that.
“I met someone.”
There was so much to talk about—things to say about Dad and the murder. But none of it mattered. Right now, I just wanted to tell my brother about Bryce. To share her with my family.
“Is it serious?” he asked.
“She’s my Emmy.” It was the best way to describe my feelings for Bryce. Nick loved Emmeline with every molecule in his body. “But it hasn’t been long.”
He chuckled. “I fell for Emmy the first night I met her. Time doesn’t matter.”
Nick and Emmeline had married the first night they’d met. Things had been rocky for them, but they’d found their way back together.
“I’m happy for you. Want a piece of free advice from your older, wiser and more handsome brother?”
I grinned. “Sure.”
“Now that you’ve found her, don’t let her go.”