Chapter 23 Knox
KNOX
“Hey, Knox, What’s-”
“Call church, Diesel.”
“Knox. You okay?” Diesel asked.
“Call it. Now. Wherever you are, you need to call church,” I said.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Just do it, damn it!”
I shoved my phone into my pocket and rushed down the highway.
I made my way out to the corner of the woods before going off-road.
I didn’t want anyone following me, and if they were I wanted it to be as obvious as daylight.
I looked around me to see if any cars were anywhere near my bike, but I wove through the canyons just in case.
My mind was flooded with worry for Monroe.
The deal she’d made with Diego and how he was going to perceive what had happened.
The guys needed to know all about it so we could figure out how to protect ourselves.
I rolled into my usual parking space and took off for the lodge. A dead sprint to get to where the guys were standing. Diesel gave me a hard look before I rushed up the steps, the guys on my heels the entire time.
“What the fuck’s going on?” Grave asked. “We don’t ever have church on Saturdays.”
“Had myself a nice girl last night,” Rock said. “So, this better be good.”
“You weren’t the only one with a girl,” I said. “So, can it.”
“What’s this about?” Diesel asked. “What’s going on, Knox?”
“Wait, you were with a woman?” Mick asked. “Who was she? You don’t ever stay over with the girls you fuck.”
“I was with Monroe,” I said.
The guys fell silent as Diesel’s eyes locked onto my face.
“What?” he asked.
“I was with Monroe last night and this morning and she got a phone call from Rose. Guys, the RICO case is still on,” I said.
“There was a RICO case?” Mick asked.
“What the fuck? What’s the government doing snooping around for?” Brewer asked.
I looked over at Diesel as his gaze hit the floor.
“Guys, I gotta fill you in on something,” Diesel said.
“You didn’t tell them,” I said. “How the fuck could you not tell them?”
“Tell us what?” Rock asked. “Someone open their fucking mouth and speak.”
“I know we’re trying to find out who framed Knox for Blaze’s murder, but we already know the reason he was framed,” Diesel said.
“Which was…?” Mick asked.
“The assistant U.S. attorney was gonna use Knox being in jail as a way to try and build a RICO case against us,” Diesel said.
“And you just… conveniently left that shit out?” Grave asked. “The fuck were you thinking, Diesel?”
“I was thinking it wasn’t important because Knox wasn’t guilty, we had a hell of a lawyer on our side, and even if they did get to Knox he would never roll over on any of us,” Diesel said.
“Monroe ever mention this?” Grave asked. “You know, while you two were screwing around?”
“Don’t get asshurt because I’m screwing our lawyer, Grave. You’ve had that dick in so many holes I’m surprised it hasn’t fallen off. And she mentioned it before, but she also knew they didn’t have anything on me so we stayed away from it. Focused on getting me outta prison first,” I said.
“Is this assistant whatever about to come into town? Do we need to halt the shit we got in the works?” Grave asked.
“I’m more concerned about what information they’ve got that’s bringing them into town,” Mick said.
“That’s a better question, yes,” Rock said. “I could see what I can dig up, but if they’re swooping in, they’ve got something.”
“They should,” Brewer said. “But we all know the fucking government doesn't always work that way.”
“But if they did have information, how the fuck would they have gotten it?” Grave asked.
My eyes rose to Diesel as I held my breath. His eyes stayed with me as the two of us turned the thought over in our head. Should we tell them now? Was this somehow connected? Would someone in our ranks stoop to that kind of level?
I watched Diesel nod his head and I drew in a deep breath.
“We got a problem I think might be linked to all this,” I said.
“We got enough problems to deal with, but thanks,” Grave said.
“Fucker, you need to shut the hell up,” I said. “This is serious. When Blaze was kicking the shit outta me at that damn campfire they were having, he mentioned Canyon.”
The guys stopped and slowly turned towards me. Like they had just seen a ghost.
“What?” Brewer asked flatly.
“Yeah. He mentioned that I looked good on my knees like Canyon. Except when he saw Canyon, she’d be facing away from him,” I said.
“He fucking did what!?” Grave asked. “Holy shit, if that boy wasn’t already dead-”
“Don’t speak ill of the dead,” Diesel said. “It’s bad luck.”
“Fuck luck!” Grave said. “That asshole threatened the life of someone he should’ve never even known about! A ten-year old girl, Diesel!”
“And he’s dead for it,” Diesel said. “By who? No fucking clue. But he’s dead. We know that much.”
“We got a rat in our ranks,” Rock said flatly.
“Holy shit. What if this fucking rat’s selling us out to the government?” Brewer asked.
“It’s possible,” I said with a shrug.
“But the only people who know about Canyon are in this room,” Mick said.
“Exactly,” I said. “Which means we got a serious problem.”
The guys started to look around at one another. I watched all of them slowly put up their guards as Grave reached for his gun. One by one, we all armed ourselves, wary of the person standing next to us.
“I think that’s enough church for a Saturday,” Diesel said. “Knox, you got anything else you wanna spill?”
I wanted to tell them about the deal Monroe made with Diego.
If she was gonna be working for us and protecting us, then we needed to be able to provide the same for her.
If those assholes swooped into town, Diego would see it as her inability to hold up her end of the bargain, and who knew what the hell would come from that.
But we were all on edge and someone was two seconds away from getting pumped with lead.
“Nah. I’m good for now,” I said.
“Then let’s all get out of here and go our separate ways before someone else ends up dead,” Diesel said.
I left as quickly as I could before anyone got any fucking ideas.
I hated that it came to this. I hopped back onto my bike and took the long way back into town.
I wove in and out of canyons to try and lose any tail that might be on me and clear my head.
I had to find a way to convince Monroe to keep me as abreast with this case as she possibly could without threatening her damn job.
The ride back to my place was long, but needed.
By the time I got there, I knew how I was gonna handle Monroe.
But not only that, I also knew how I was gonna handle Diego.
The one thing the Latin Cobras respected more than honoring a deal was honesty.
If I could feed them information to cover their own asses while Monroe was handing it to me, I could get them off her back and keep her safe.
I could handle that kinda target on my body better than Monroe could, and the idea of her getting hurt over this shit made my palms sweat.
But when I pulled up to my place, I saw a woman standing in front of my front door.
“You Knox?” she asked.
“Who’s asking?”
“Just answer the damn question.”
This petite blonde woman had legs for days and eyes filled with a tepid fire. She looked tired. Worn down. Fed up with whatever had been slung across her shoulders. I scanned her body, making it look like I was checking her out when I was really checking her for firearms and shit.
But she was clean of any weapon, so I parked my bike and approached her.
“You got a name?” I asked.
“You got a place we can talk?” she asked.
“If you got a name, yeah.”
“My name’s Everly.”
“Pretty name for a pretty girl,” I said.
“I’m not here to fuck you, I’m here to talk.”
“Don’t worry. You’re not my type,” I said. “How do you know me?”
“Let me in and I’ll tell you.”
“No thanks. I’m not into harming women, and if you come at me in my home I’m not so sure I won’t put ya into a wall.”
“I’m not going to come at you. I’m not my brother,” she said.
“And who’s your brother?” I asked.
“Rex,” she said.
I felt my blood ice over in my veins as my eyes held her gaze.
“My brother’s name is Rex.”