15. Crow
CHAPTER 15
CROW
Life hurts. It’s brutal, but it’s also beautiful.
“I’ll look at it.”
I lift my head and glance at Addison. She’s been sitting on the bed, watching TV for the last hour, and I’ve been reading a mystery novel at my desk.
“At what?”
“The evidence you say will exonerate the club for my mom.”
“You will?” She nods. “Why now?”
“Because I was reminded earlier that I’m a damn good cop,” she explains. “And if I want to get justice, I need to know for sure that I’m actually getting it and not just putting someone away for the sake of putting someone away.”
“Okay. I’ll have Tracer join us in the meeting room with everything he’s gathered.”
I lead her downstairs, sending a text to Tracer as we go. Addison is quiet, silently following me like she’s walking to her execution. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. She’s walking directly into the path of her freedom.
“Glad to see you’ve come to your senses,” Tracer comments dryly, his attention squarely on Addison, when he enters the room.
“Don’t be a dick,” I snap, annoyed at his tone with her.
He sets his laptop down and raises his hands. “Sorry. Won’t happen again.”
“Make sure it doesn’t.”
“You know I can stand up for myself, right?” Addison chimes in.
“I know,” Crow admits. “But around here, you’ve got back up.”
“Just show me what you wanna show me,” she snaps.
“Go ahead, T,” I say. “Show her.”
Tracer taps the keys of his laptop, then motions for Addison to stand beside him so she can see the screen.
“That’s the police report from the day my mom died,” she says quietly.
“Have you read it?” I ask.
Addison rolls her eyes. “Of course, I’ve read the damn thing.”
“Then read it again.”
“I know what it says, Crow,” she says with her teeth clenched.
“I’m sure you do. But read it again.”
She crosses her arms over her chest in a show of obstinance. “I don’t wan?—”
“Humor me, and read. It. Again!”
“And that’s my cue to leave,” Tracer states as he stands to walk out of the room.
“Why are you doing this?” Addison asks, her voice small.
“Doing what?”
“Forcing me to relive the worst day of my life.”
“The last thing I want to do is hurt you.” She opens her mouth to argue, but I hold a hand up to silence her. “I don’t give a damn what you think, but I don’t want to hurt you, Ace. What I want is to change your opinion of us, of me.”
Vulnerability is not, nor has it ever been, my strong suit. But where Addison is concerned, it seems I’m willing to do pretty much whatever it takes to get my way.
She stares at me for a long moment before sitting in Tracer’s vacated chair and focusing on the police report.
“Is there anything specific I’m looking for?”
“The witness’s description of the shooter.”
Her lips move as she silently reads, and when she finishes, she glares at me. “How is this supposed to change my mind? Clearly one of you did it.”
“No, we didn’t,” I insist.
“Prove it.”
“I’m about to.” I move to the filing cabinet and pull out the large file of emergency contacts we keep for everyone who’s a club member or who resides at the clubhouse. “Look through those and tell me where you see the name Stunner,” I demand as I toss the file onto the table in front of her.
It takes her a while, but she gets through each form. “Okay, fine. You don’t have any record of someone who went by that name. But this is just one file, Crow. You could’ve hidden the evidence.”
“Now look at the description of the patches, specifically the one the witness says he saw on the back of the cut that’s the Soulless Kings logo.”
Again, she reads through the description. “Okay, read it.”
I turn so my back is to her. “Does that match the patches you see on my cut?”
Silence fills the room for several seconds before she gasps. “Wait a second,” she mutters with shock in her tone. “The witness said the logo had three skulls, but your patch only has one. And the bones that go through the skull head… The witness described those as rifles.”
I whirl around and lock eyes with her. “And what does that tell you?”
“It can mean a few things.”
“Like?”
“Well, for one, you could’ve fabricated this report,” she states.
“We didn’t. All you have to do is look at the web address to know it’s the real deal.”
“It could also mean that the witness lied. Maybe on behalf of the club.”
“That didn’t happen,” I say simply.
“Or it means that the Soulless Kings were framed.”
“That!” I bark and pound my fist on the table. “That’s what it means. C’mon, Ace, don’t you see? We had nothing to do with your mom’s death. But clearly, whoever did, wants the world to think we’re guilty.”
“But…” She shakes her head in disbelief. “I don’t… Who would want to do that?”
“You believe me?”
“I don’t know.” Addison lifts her eyes to mine, and there’s a hint of apology in them. “Who would do this?”
“The club’s made a lot of enemies over the years,” I admit. “But murdering the police chief’s wife and pinning it on us? I have no clue who would do that.”
She slowly stands and begins to pace. “I thought… My dad thought… Why?” she cries. “Why my mom?”
“I don’t know.”
“Even if the club didn’t kill her, she died because of you.”
The pain in her voice cuts through me like a hot knife through butter. I want to ease it, to take away her agony and give her nothing but good things. But that’s not how life works.
Life hurts. It’s brutal, but it’s also beautiful.
“I’m sorry,” I finally say.
“It’s okay.”
I grab her arm and force her to stop in front of me. Gripping her chin, I lean in close.
“It’s not okay. Your pain is never okay.”