Chapter 15
IT”S HARD TO LET GO OF THE PAST
J.D. Stevens
“Do you need to get that?” Demon asked with his brow arched.
Silencing my phone, a smile spread across my face. I wanted to answer Rebel’s call just so I could hear her voice but right now we needed to discuss the Daniels brothers.
“Nah, I’ll call her back.”
“Her?”
It had been a few months since I saw my brother-in-law and the only time we talked was when he called Siobhan which was at least once a week. He hadn’t seen me with anyone or heard of another woman being in my life, so his shock didn’t surprise me.
“Yes. Her name is Rebel. She’s Caesar’s ex-sister-in-law.”
“Wait. Caesar was married?”
“Yes. He was married to Rebel’s twin sister, Rumi. It was a shock to me too. Anyway, Rebel’s been helping me find information on what happened that day. You wouldn’t believe the shit she’s uncovered.”
“Is that all she’s helping you with?” he asked with a smirk.
How much should I tell him? Dani was his only sister. He knew how much I loved her.
How much I still love her.
I didn’t want him to get the impression that I was shitting on her memory. I looked up to Demon. Respected him a lot. What he thought of me meant something.
Leaning back in the armchair in my living room, he let out a deep sigh. “J.D., I know how much you loved my sister. And I know how much she loved you. But I don’t expect you to spend your days alone. You’re a good guy and still young. You’re a wonderful father and you were a fantastic husband. I couldn’t have asked for a better man for Dani. But I want you to be happy, man. You’re family. And Dani would want you to be happy too.”
I run my hand down my face. “I know she would want me to be happy, but I’m so fucking scared if I move on, I’ll forget her. And I don’t want to forget her. I don’t want someone new to replace what we had because she was my other half.”
“J.D., no one could ever replace Dani in your heart. No one could ever erase what you shared with her. You just have to give yourself grace to make room for someone else. She and Luca will always be with you.”
“It’s just hard to let go of the past. It’s hard to admit that they’re really gone, and that somebody took them from me.”
“I know. I think about both of them every day. But you can’t live in the past because you may miss out on your future. Shit, maybe Rebel is your future.”
Rebel Pierce, my future?
I shook my head in disbelief because I haven’t known her long, but now I looked forward to a new day when for the last few years, I’d rather had been living in the past. And it was all because of her.
“I don’t know what it is about her,” I continued. “But she’s captured my attention.”
“I know you don’t need my blessing, but you got it. You need to think about Siobhan. She’s young but talking from experience, kids aren’t fucking stupid. They know when shit’s up with us. I think it’s time you think about yourself.”
“I’m getting there. Slowly, but I’m getting there.”
“Good. So, what did you find?”
“You know how there was supposed to be no tapes from that day?”
“Yeah, the cops said they couldn’t find any footage of Dani.”
“They fucking lied.”
The more I thought about all the bullshit I’d been told about her accident the more pissed off I got. Who the fuck caused the death of my wife and kid?
“Rebel found a tape from the daycare.”
His brows drew together in confusion.
“Apparently, she received a phone call that morning. She was so fucking scared, D. And whoever she was talking to she’d been in contact with for weeks.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “You got a name?”
“Nope. It was a burner that couldn’t be traced. But there’s more. Guess who paid the daycare owner to get rid of the tape? Spike’s fucking brother.”
“Earl or Stanly?”
“Earl.”
“Damn. I haven’t heard anything about that motherfucker since high school.”
“Well, he became a cop and now he’s dead.”
“Murdered?”
“Suicide. Well according to the coroner, it was a suicide, but I don’t believe that shit.”
“Why?”
“He was a fucking cop. Why the hell would he hang himself instead of using his service pistol. All he had to do was blow his brains out.”
“That makes sense.” He runs his hand over his beard. ”So, you think there’s a connection to Spike?”
I shrugged because I didn’t know. Yet, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that it was too much of a coincidence. We’d gotten rid of his brother, then found out he was connected to my wife’s death. If it was a coincidence, what a small fucking world.
“It’s possible it’s connected to Spike snitching because Dani is the one who told us. But I’m not sure how in the hell Earl would have found that shit out.”
“I don’t think someone targeted Dani for telling me about Spike.” Demon blew out a breath. “This has to do with you or me. Hitting a family member especially a pregnant woman is personal. My sister was scared for a reason. And more than likely she was protecting you or me.”
“Spike can’t be traced back to the club, right?”
“Nah. Earl may have wanted to get back at the club because he thought Spike was dead and it had something to do with Demons United, but if you don’t think he hung himself, then somebody’s tying up loose ends.”
“That’s the same thing Rebel said.”
“Smart woman. Which means this isn’t about Spike snitching. They may have used Earl because of his connection to Spike, but it goes beyond that. Now the question is, who’s the snake and how do we cut the head off.”
“Rebel is fucking good. I’m sure she’ll uncover more.”
“So, when do I get to meet her?” he asked.
“You want to meet her?”
“Of course. If she’s helping you find out who killed my sister and nephew, I want to thank her.”
I needed to check her message, anyway. I grabbed my phone, listened to the message and closed my eyes.
“Goddamn it,” I mumbled then ended the call.
“Problem?” Demon asked.
“She said I’ve got eyes on me.”
“If she’s been digging into Earl, probably caught the eye of the Feds. Don’t worry. There’s no way they can connect any of us to Spike. Let them watch. Just do things a little more carefully. Now call your girl.”
My girl.
With a smile on my face, I dialed her number. I wasn’t ready to admit it yet, but the thought of her being my girl sounded fucking amazing.