Chapter 20
WE”LL FIGURE IT OUT
Rebel Pierce
It was hard going straight to work after the mind-blowing orgasms, I’d just experienced.
Will it always be like this? Will he always have me craving more?
He hadn’t even fucked me yet, and I was already thinking about the next time. Would there even be a next time? He said the same thing tonight he had said before—that he wanted all of me. Was he just saying it because we were in the moment?
But I was serious when I told him I wouldn’t live in her shadow. From what I could gather about Dani, she was an amazing woman, an exceptional mother, and a wonderful wife but that didn’t mean I would try to replace her. I was not her. I would never be her. He’d have to know that before we could move forward.
Sitting in front of his computer, I tried to ignore all the shit swirling inside my head. He went to check on Siobhan while I dressed, then loaded up the evidence I uncovered on Earl Daniels and the mysterious biker he met a week before Dani died.
This was one of the most important developments in this case so far. Earl definitely had motive whether J.D. or Demon, wanted to admit their part in his brother’s disappearance. Which pushed Earl to the top of the list of suspects. But he was dead, and his suicide was in question which also meant someone else was involved and the first clue was this biker.
Who is he? Would J.D. recognize him?
“So many questions, and not enough answers,” I mumbled then took in a deep breath before releasing it.
When J.D. walked into the room, my eyes snapped to him and a rush of excitement surged through me, electrifying every inch of my being. I tried to push it down before he saw it, but I didn’t move quick enough as a smirk moved across his beautiful face.
I rolled my eyes, and he chuckled. “Are you ready to see what I have?”
“I’m ready to see all you have,” he said as he walked towards me.
With a blush staining my cheeks, I couldn’t help but drop my head under the fiery intensity of his gaze. If Rumi where here she’d definitely tell me how stupid I was for falling for someone like J.D. because he was just like Caesar and he was a part of a life I’d never understand. And maybe I was stupid for hoping that this went further between us, but I couldn’t help it. There was something about him that made me think maybe... just maybe this chemistry between us could turn into something more if we could get by this tragic event that kept him clinging to the past.
And it wasn’t like I didn’t understand why he continued to seek answers. If I was in his position and had lost my family, I wouldn’t stop until I found out what happened. That was why I had no problem helping him. But I didn’t expect whatever this was between us to happen and now that it had I didn’t think there was any way to stop it because I didn’t want it to.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
I wasn’t ready to confess anything more than what I already had and open my heart further to happiness or disappointment.
“You ready to look at this?” I asked.
All playfulness drained from his features. A somberness fell over the room. I get it but it still sucked we couldn’t enjoy what was happening between us even though I understood why.
He stood behind, leaning over my shoulder. It was hard to keep his closeness from affecting me. I took a deep breath and released it, then hit the enter button to start the video.
“This is from one of the CCTV cameras aimed at a diner not too far from the police station,” I said. “You’ll see Earl appear on camera from the south.”
Within seconds Earl entered the frame in the direction from the police station. He looked around before he entered the diner and disappeared from the camera’s view.
“The biker should be coming into view in a few seconds.”
“From which way?”
“He’ll pop into frame from the north. And there he is,” I said, pointing as soon as I saw him come into the frame.
“He looks young,” J.D. muttered. “I can’t see anything other than he’s very young. Do you have another angle?”
I looked over my shoulder and smiled. “Of course, I do. I hacked into the diner’s security footage from that day. I was shocked at the quality to tell you the truth, but the only downfall is it doesn’t have audio.”
I turned back to the computer screen, tapped a few keys, and opened the other file from inside of the diner. The video started playing, and I wished we could hear what they were saying but it didn’t have any audio.
We watched the young guy sit at the table with Earl Daniels and they looked like they were in a heated discussion the moment the kid sat down. He couldn’t have been any older than eighteen maybe nineteen, which meant he might not even be twenty-one now.
“He’s not a member of any club. He’s a prospect,” J.D. said from behind me. “If this club of his is involved, I’m not sure it was a sanctioned hit.”
“What does that mean?”
“Without getting into details of club business, we follow a hierarchy. A prospect is not officially a member of the club. They do small errands for patched members.”
“So, their auditioning to become a member?”
“You could say that. Everyone goes through the process. Anyway, this guy’s cut has no identifying markers except for the prospect patch. It’s where his road name should be if he were a full patched member.”
“Okay, he’s a prospect, but why wouldn’t this be a sanctioned hit? I’m not understanding. He’s definitely trying to become a member of some club, right?”
He nodded. “He’s trying to become a member. That’s what prospect means.”
“Then explain how this guy could be involved if the club isn’t?”
“A prospect wouldn’t be used to handle this,” he said. “This would be on the scale of club business. Which means you have to be a part of the club to take part.”
“And you’re saying since he’s not a patched member, it means he wouldn’t be used to handle a sanctioned hit?”
“Exactly,” he said as we watched the prospect slide an envelope over to Earl Daniels.
“Then someone has gone rogue,” I said.
He didn’t agree or disagree but that was essentially what he said. A rogue faction of some motorcycle club was involved in the death of his wife and child. The question was what club and why?
Earl looked around the restaurant, then grabbed it from the table. The prospect said one last word to him before he got up and left. Earl opened the envelope, took some of the money from it, and stuffed the bills in his pocket then left the envelope on the seat of the booth.
“Shit! I can’t believe I missed that,” I said.
“Did you watch the rest of this?” he asked as we continued to look at the footage from inside the diner.
“I didn’t. I didn’t see him leave the envelope, so I followed them out of the diner.”
Not too long after the biker and Earl left an older man sat down at the booth and grabbed the envelope.
“Who the fuck is that?” he asked.
“I don’t know, but I’ll get my guys on it. We’ll have answers soon.”
The older man stuffed it inside his pocket. We watched as he rose from the booth and walked towards the back of the diner instead of leaving through the front.
“Is that all the footage?”
“It’s all that I could find. Earl just goes back towards the police station and the biker leaves in the same direction he arrived.
He stepped away from me. “Goddamn it!” he shouted. “I’m so fucking ready for all of this to be over. What the hell happened! Why the hell did this happen!”
I stood and walked to him. Once I reached him, my fingers reached out to touch him, offering a small gesture of comfort. When I cupped his face, he closed his eyes, the leaned closer to me.
“We’re getting closer, J.D.” He gazed into my eyes. “I know it hurts but we are getting answers.”
“I know, but I’ve been dealing with this shit for a long time, Rebel. And the more questions we get answers to, the more questions we have. I just want closure for my family.”
“And I’m going to help you get that closure. We’ll figure it out.”
He leaned forward and rested his forehead against mine. I closed my eyes relishing in his closeness. “Thank you,” he whispered, before he kissed me.
The kiss was slow, thoughtful, and sweet. Very different from the intense man I knew. When he pulled away, his eyes held so much emotion.
I smiled. “You don’t have to thank me. I’m going to help you get through this.”