Chapter 30 #2
“ The church building had to be put on hold because the issue with the trust was exposed. Her parents were exposed. The entire church board was exposed. That’s when the former leaders stepped down and Carl’s parents took over almost exclusively.
They were fired up, using the leverage they had against the deacon and his faction of the board to approve the change in leadership. And it still didn’t help Rose at all.”
“ Was that while Rose fostered with them?”
John searched his memories. “ It was about that time. Her parents were brought up on charges for fraud. She was going to be a ward of the state, but… the judge thought she’d have a more consistent childhood with Beth’s family.
And she probably could have, if it weren’t for Carl .
He talked her into luring that asshole to the construction site. I think they killed him.”
“ I heard it was an accident.”
John fired back the rebuttal evident in his scowl. “ Carl was involved. I highly doubt it was an accident.”
“ How old was she then?”
“ Almost fourteen.”
Forget my gut. My heart hurt for her. “ Is that when she went into the foster system?”
“ Yeah . The investigation into the death prompted it. Apparently , Beth told her to tell the court adjudicator everything. I don’t think she did, because Carl walked away Scott -free, and Beth’s parents didn’t get any blowback.”
“ And the church?”
John’s shoulders lifted as if he was going to shrug but knew that wasn’t the right response. “ They had to find another building site. The congregation didn’t want their building on a spot where two people died.”
“ Two ?”
John held up a finger. “ I forgot that part. Her grandmother was found dead there. Everyone thought it was natural causes at the time. They’d even planned a garden for her in memory.”
“ But with the deacon obviously murdered, that put a big question mark on things, didn’t it.” Good riddance to bad news , I thought.
“ Well , I wouldn’t say it was obvious murder, but there were enough questions to get the courts looking at Rose’s life with a sharper lens.”
“ What happened to the land?”
“ Rose sold it to the church when she turned eighteen and used the money for therapy and college.”
“ And Beth ?”
“ She stood by her the whole time, even through her first bout with cancer.”
No wonder Rose put herself in this situation.
“ Bear ?” John broke my train of thoughts.
“ What ?”
“ Beth asked me, no… told me that her dying wish is that you know everything about Rose so you can stop her from going back to Carl .” Tears collected in his eyes.
“ Beth’s dying. And —” his voice broke. He coughed to clear his throat before continuing.
“ And instead of letting Rose con her brother into saving her life, Beth asked me to beg you to save Rose’s . ”
“ But —”
“ I know, my wife will die.”
“ And you’re okay with that?” I wouldn’t be if it were my wife. If it were Rose . I blinked, shocked as all hell that I’d gone there.
John studied his toes. “ If Rose goes back to Carl , he’ll kill her. I’m sure of that. And if Rose dies, Beth will, too. They’re too close for one of them to survive if the other doesn’t.”
John made certain his next words were clear and looked me square in the eye as he spoke. “ I’m telling you this to save my wife. The cancer could kill Beth tomorrow or in a month, but a broken heart? That will kill her faster.”
His abrupt departure left me reeling.
I barely could breathe, let alone gather my emotions and thoughts into a coherent whole. John’s life was falling apart, and he dumped this shit on my plate.
I drove home replaying the echoes of dead conversations in my mind.
“ The cancer could kill Beth tomorrow.”
“ I’m not stupid. It’s right after Halloween .”
“ It’s the day to celebrate the martyrs!”
Above my head, the sky turned turbulent.
As if the Gods ’ mood matched my own. I parked the bike inside the garage out of habit.
The locked garage door snapped my attention to the present.
I’d collect Rose , whether she wanted to come with me or not.
We’d take the bike, hopefully dodging the impending rain, and get stuck at the clubhouse the entire night.
Tomorrow , I’d shut her inside Wolf’s office and put two prospects on her as guard.
Then I’d kill Carl .
With that plan firmly in place, I unlocked the door.
My first instinct was to search for Rose . But she stood in the center of the room. As if she’d been waiting for me.
Her backpack was in her hand.
“ Cool , you’re ready. Let’s go.”
“ I’m not going with you.”
John’s pleas echoed in my head on repeat. “ Not an option.”
Rose’s face darkened. “ Are you telling me what to do?”
“ Damn straight I am. Come on. I’m going to be late for church.”
Her jaw worked. “ Church ,” she repeated.
“ Yeah . Biker church. The best fucking kind of church and the only kind I’m ever going to force down your throat, got it?”
A flash of anger lit her eyes and tightened in her jawline. “ No .”
“ Fine . We’ll take the truck and I’ll carry your damn ass to it.”
She whipped out her dagger and held it like she knew what she was doing. I hesitated.
“ Put that away.”
“ No .”
“ Beth’s in the ICU ,” I blurted, trying to appeal to her softer side.
“ Why do you think I’m doing this?” Her reply was short.