Chapter Twenty-Three
Shay
I didn’t know when I fell asleep.
Prime’s room always felt safer than it should, warm and quiet with his scent in the sheets, and his arm draped heavy and protective over my waist. His breathing was slow against the back of my neck, steady enough that my body finally unclenched.
But the second sleep pulled me under; it dragged me somewhere else.
Somewhere I had been trying to return to.
I wasn’t in the clubhouse anymore.
I was standing on the shoreline.
The wind was cold.
The water was black.
Lanterns flickered near the trees, with people in the distance.
Headlights pointed toward the lake like someone had angled a car right at the edge.
A woman screamed. High-pitched, sharp, and terrified. I knew that voice. I knew her.
Mom.
She shouted, “Mom!”
My breath caught.
My heart thundered.
“Don’t you fucking answer her, Bernice!” the man warned.
The other woman there was Bernice.
Mom and I were behind the car, and she was holding my arm tightly. I could feel her fear radiating through me. “We need to get out of here, Shay-Shay,” she whispered.
A man yelled back. A voice I didn’t recognize. “You fucked with the wrong club, Caleb!”
I couldn’t see him. Only a shadow thrashing near the water, backlit by lantern glow and headlights.
“Stop!” Bernice screamed, her voice cracking. “You can’t do this!”
The deep voice exploded through the dark, furious and out of control. “Shut up, Bernice! You and that girl ain’t gonna ruin this!”
Branches snapped beside me as Mom grabbed my arm and yanked me backward.
“Come on, Shay, don’t look. Just run!” Mom urged.
But I heard everything.
The slap of bodies colliding. The scrape of boots sliding in mud. Grunting, cursing, and the sound of a struggle spiraling out of control.
Bernice cried out, “Please, stop!”
Then, a splash. A heavy, awful splash.
And then, silence.
I jolted awake with a choking gasp and sat upright so fast the room spun.
Prime jerked awake beside me instantly. “Shay?” His voice was rough with sleep but sharp with concern. “Hey, hey, talk to me.”
I couldn’t. Not at first.
My chest was tight. My hands shook.
He sat up and cupped my face, gently turning me toward him. “Look at me. Just breathe.”
I blinked through the leftover darkness until his face came into focus.
The room was dim. It was still night. We were alone. I wasn’t on the shore of the lake anymore. But the dream and memories clung to me like the lake water Caleb had drowned in.
Prime slid closer, his knees brushing mine under the blankets. “What happened?”
I swallowed hard. “I… remembered it.”
“That night?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, I remember it all. Caleb was there with Bernice and some man close to the water. I was next to my mom farther back.” My mind raced, wanting to tell him everything, but I was struggling to get the words out.
His hands dropped to my thighs, warm, grounding. “Okay. Take your time, babe.”
I drew in a shaky breath. “I was on the shoreline. At night. It was cold. There were lanterns near the trees and… headlights pointing toward the water.”
Prime’s brows pulled together. He didn’t interrupt. He didn’t rush me.
I stared at the wall because looking at him made my chest tight. “A woman screamed. My mom. I knew it was her. And she yelled a name.” I swallowed, my throat burning. “Bernice.”
“Bernice was by the water?”
“Yes.” My voice cracked. “They were fighting. A man and Bernice. And there was… another man. Caleb. I couldn’t see him. Just shadows. The man yelled that Caleb had fucked with the wrong club. Both men and Bernice were struggling near the water. And then…” My breath hitched. “Someone fell in.”
Prime’s grip on my legs tightened, but he didn’t panic. He didn’t push. “Who?”
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “I just heard a big splash. Then nothing. It had to be Caleb, right? This had to be the night that he drowned.”
For a moment, the only sound in the room was our breathing.
Prime slid closer as his hand moved from my legs to my hips.
“Hey,” he murmured, voice low and calm. “You’re okay. You’re right here with me.”
I nodded, but the memory still clung to me. “I don’t know who fell,” I whispered, “but it had to be Caleb. It has to be. This… this was the night he died. I can feel it.”
Prime reached up and brushed a trembling strand of hair away from my face. “You remember what you remember. And you saw more than anyone’s seen in twenty-three years.” His thumb stroked my cheek. “But Shay… this wasn’t random.”
A shiver crawled through me. “What do you mean?”
He cupped the back of my neck gently. “A man yelling that Caleb messed with the wrong club? Bernice screaming? Your mom dragging you away?” His jaw tightened. “This wasn’t an accident. This was a fight over something big. Something ugly.”
“And the killer now…” My voice faded, the realization slicing through me.
“Prime, what if the person doing this… is connected to that night? What if this guy is the same one who killed Caleb? Was Caleb a part of the Kings of Anarchy, and he was killed because of something the Kings did to this guy?”
Prime didn’t even blink. “I think they are.”
My breath hitched. “The notes. The bodies. The timing. The USB. The threats. My memory coming back now. It’s all connected.”
“Yeah.” His fingers slid down my arms and pulled me gently into his chest, wrapping me up without asking, without hesitation. “Everything going on now… it’s tied to what happened back then. Either the man who killed Caleb… or someone close to him. Someone who remembers.”
I leaned into him, feeling his heartbeat thudding steady and solid against my cheek. Prime held me tighter, and his chin dropped to the top of my head.
“No more carrying this alone,” he murmured into my hair. “Not anymore. Whatever you saw… whatever this is… we’ll figure it out together.”
My eyes closed, the weight still heavy on my chest, but not crushing anymore.
“Prime?” I whispered.
“Yeah.”
“What if he is trying to kill me because I know he killed Caleb?”
Prime’s grip tightened protectively, possessively. “Then he just made the biggest mistake of his life coming back to this island.” His breath brushed my temple, warm and certain. “Because now he’s got me to answer to.”