Chapter 13 Grave
GRAVE
I rode through the woods, and with each foot that was put between Everly and I made me worry.
I was pissed that Diesel was already calling me back into fucking town.
That wasn’t the point of us going out there.
They were supposed to keep me in the loop over the fucking phone so I could stay with Everly twenty-four-seven.
The fact that Diesel was already calling a required church meeting made my blood boil, and I was going to make sure he knew it.
By the time I got back out to the damn lodge, I was just under an hour away from getting back to Everly if something fucking happened to her.
And if something did, it was on Diesel’s head.
“Grave. Thanks for coming.”
“What the fuck is all this shit about?” I asked.
The guys turned to me and their eyes widened.
“Is something wrong?” Diesel asked.
“Hell yeah, something’s wrong. You send me away in the middle of the woods, tell me you’ll update me with phone calls, and less than twenty-four hours later I’m on my bike riding for a damn hour away from the woman I’m supposed to be protecting to sit down with your ass?”
“Grave, it’s important,” Knox said.
“Important enough to leave our only damn witness alone in a place she isn’t familiar with?” I asked.
“He’s got a point,” Mick said. “Wait. Where are you guys again?”
“Not important,” I said, growling.
“What’s important is that the location stays private. No matter what,” Diesel said.
“Yeah, but you know it. Right?” Rock asked.
“I do,” Diesel said.
“Then why can’t we know?” Brewer asked. “Grave’s important. Everly’s important.”
“We wouldn’t jeopardize anything like that,” Mick said. “What’s with all the secrecy?”
“Look, can we debate this some other time? I don’t really give a shit as long as that girl’s safe. Monroe’s got some information and you guys gotta listen,” Knox said.
“Information someone couldn’t tell me over the damn phone?” I asked.
“Yes,” Diesel said. “And I know you’re frustrated. We all are. But, Everly’s safe. No one knows where she is.”
“Except you,” Rock said, murmuring.
“Pissed you’re not a part of the club?” Mick asked, grinning.
“Everyone shut the fuck up. Knox, what is it?” Brewer asked.
“Rex’s case,” Knox said. “Monroe thinks the D.A. will try to use Everly as a witness to put Rex way for good. Throw the RICO case more on The Black Saddles rather than us.”
“Wasn’t that the point?” I asked.
“No, no. You're not listening. Monroe thinks the D.A. will put her on the stand,” Knox said.
“Wait, that wasn’t the deal,” Grave said. “We talked the law firm out of witness protection. That woman can’t go on the stand. We were told her signed testimony would be enough!”
“We thought that,” Diesel said. “But with this RICO case, a signed testimony isn’t enough. There’s nothing else to corroborate Everly’s story. Everly will have to take the stand, and prove to the jury what she saw.”
“No. She’s not doing that,” I said.
“We don’t have a choice. They almost took out Knox by framing him,” Brewer said. “We have to do something to get these assholes off the street.”
“Everly isn’t taking that fucking stand. If The Black Saddles catch wind of that shit, there won’t be a damn place we can take her where they won’t track her ass down,” I said.
“Which is why you’re protecting her,” Diesel said.
“You think they wouldn’t try shooting her out of the courthouse? What the fuck is wrong with you guys? This is a woman who came to us with information, and this is all we got?” I asked.
“Getting attached?” Mick said, grinning.
“You shut your smart little mouth, dipshit. Or you’ll be the first drop of blood spill,” I said. Mick’s smile quickly dropped and he backed away from me.
“Grave, calm the fuck down,” Knox said.
“What if this was Monroe?” I asked.
“You equating Everly to Monroe now?” Rock asked. “Fuck, are you screwing her?”
“That’s none of your damn business even if I was,” I said.
“Grave, you can’t get attached,” Diesel said.
“Says the guy who won’t even tell us where she is,” Brewer said.
“Enough!”
Knox’s voice echoed off the corners of the fucking lodge we were all standing in.
I was infuriated. Everly taking the stand wasn’t in the cards.
Her testimony and her signed declaration to the cops was all that was necessary for shit like this.
If it came to light that the D.A. was going to try and subpoena Everly to be a witness, they’d track her down and kill her for sure.
She’d be on the damn run for the rest of her fucking life.
And I wasn’t gonna let her do that shit on her own.
“Grave, I know this isn’t ideal. But you gotta try to understand where the D.A.’s comin’ from. They want those assholes off the street just like we do. But a signed statement isn’t gonna cut it,” Knox said.
“Since when are we in bed with the fucking D.A? The Black Saddles mowed down her damn house with lead from their own fucking guns when we turned up to get her shit,” I said.
“And trust me, Monroe’s making sure all of that gets taken into consideration. The police processed the scene and, according to Monroe, they were able to link the bullets back to guns they know The Black Saddles stole,” Knox said.
“I’m tapping into all my police resources to keep up to date on shit,” Brewer said. “But right now, it’s still the best decision for Everly to take the stand.”
“You can’t be fucking serious,” I said. “Brewer. Come on.”
“If the police can find a working camera that was miraculously pointing towards Everly’s house the day you guys showed up to get her shit, the tide might change.
But you know shit like that isn’t used in neighborhoods.
Sometimes other people’s security systems catch things if people are lucky. But that’s the only way,” Brewer said.
“This is fucked up. You guys know that, right?” I asked.
“It’s not ideal. We’re aware of that,” Diesel said.
“What the hell is he supposed to do then?” Mick asked. “Go on the run with Everly until the trial? Can we actually expect that of Grave?”
“I’ll do whatever the fuck it takes, but you let Monroe know the D.A. is signing a possible death warrant on Everly if the D.A. makes her testify in person,” I said.
“I’ll make sure to relay the note,” Knox said curtly.
I didn’t know what to do. Everything inside of me was screaming this was a shitty idea.
Everly couldn’t take that stand. She couldn't. The Black Saddles would stop at nothing to kill her if the D.A.
took that route. Being a personal witness and feeding us information was different than being a personal witness and feeding the police information.
At least with a signed testimony, we had a chance of getting Everly out of town before The Black Saddles found out about it.
But with something like this? There was no start time. There was no getting ahead of it. They found out when we found out and it was only a matter of who could get the fuck out of town fast enough.
Everly didn’t deserve that kind of life.
All she wanted to do was turn in her murderous fucking brother.
“I gotta get back to Everly,” I said. “I need to get groceries for us and I still have a very long ride ahead of me.”
“We get it. Go,” Diesel said. “And you have my word that, from now on, you won’t be called back in for required churches. But we needed to tell you this in person. The last thing Everly needs to see is that anger coming from you.”
And I knew he was right.
Diesel called an end to church and I headed out to my bike.
I knew I should’ve sent Rock to get the damn groceries, but I needed some space.
Some air. Some civilization. I drove into town and hit up the nearest grocery store I came to.
I picked up some milk and eggs and cheese.
A few more nice cuts of meat and some drumsticks.
Vegetables and fruits and some easy-to-grab snacks.
More drinks. A couple of frozen pizzas. Some coffee creamer and sugar.
A lot of fucking coffee.
My trailer and its insulated compartment were packed to the brim by the time I was done. I had a hard time shutting the damn top, but I finally did get it latched. I looked at my cell phone and saw it was almost four o’clock, so I sent Everly a text message that I was headed back.
Then I set off down the road and headed for the woods.
I understood why Diesel didn’t want to tell any of the guys about the cabin.
We were still flushing out a damn rat. And the less people that knew about it, the better.
The problem was, the more I came back into town and left, the greater the risk of me being spotted and followed.
Which meant it wouldn't matter that half the fucking club didn’t know where Everly and I were stationed.
We would still be followed and attacked.
I kept my eyes peeled for anyone I thought looked familiar. I kept an eye on the vehicles behind me to make sure no one was following me. I took a few back roads and dipped into a couple of neighborhoods to make sure I didn’t need to shake anyone, and I thought I was safe.
Until an old, rundown car pulled behind me from an alleyway.
I didn’t think anything of it at first. People in Redding used the alleyways all the time to cut through places.
But it was how close they were tailing me that made me nervous.
It wasn’t like they couldn't see me. I was right fucking in front of them.
But for some reason, the asshole felt the need to ride me so close I thought he was gonna make love to my damn trailer.
So, I pulled off onto a side road to let him have his way with the road.
I wrapped around and pulled back onto the main highway and I felt like I was being watched. There was something about that car that was unsettling to me. I had my head on a swivel as I rode through town, and when I looked in my rearview mirror that car was back.
That rust bucket of a vehicle that was riding my damn tail.
No sooner had I turned onto a side road, my phone rang.
The car followed me down the narrow lane and I officially determined I was being followed.
I almost ignored the call in favor of trying to put a call through to Everly, but when I saw her name flashing on the screen I felt my stomach drop to my knees.
Something wasn’t right.
And I had to get back to the cabin immediately.