Chapter 37
Unlikely Friends
Knight
My decision toleave is strictly based on not wanting to set off another one of Rem’s panic attacks. I’ve watched her go through enough of them. It’s how I know when she’s truly had all she can take of us.
“You’re her fucking trigger,” I mutter to myself and put my head back against the elevator cage.
I have so much shit going on in my head. I close my eyes, and I think of the fact that Broker had something to do with me almost getting killed. I know he’s behind it somehow.
If he wants the brotherhood that bad, is he willing to put my life in danger to get them? I wouldn’t put it past him to leak that I’m alive to have them dig into why and how. Not to mention, why haven’t I checked in if I’m still breathing.
I work my jaw in frustration. Maybe I should allow Reminisce some space while I figure this out. This is very dangerous.
I don’t know who I can trust or how deep this goes, but I have a feeling in my gut that says I’m about to find out soon. The elevator stops, and I lift the cage to step out.
I amble my way to my front door and enter the apartment. Right away, I know something is off. I reach for the piece I keep under the table by the front door.
Gun in hand, I grind my teeth and lift my chin. Whatever’s waiting for me, I’m going to face it head on.
“Welcome home.” I look the big gruff redhead in the face. “Thought my call would get you here sooner.”
I’ve met Brick a couple of times. He’s always been level with me, and that I respect. It’s the blond at his side who I know best and came to call a friend while posing as a Lost Soul in the LA chapter.
“I was told I’d find a ghost here,” Ice says. “Vault this motherfucker sat in our faces like he was one of us. Tell him how long it took for you to find out who he was.”
“I knew who he was the moment he came sniffing around as a prospect,” Vault replies.
“And still you saved his life,” Brick says to Ice.
Ice nods. “I did. I liked the kid, even though I knew he was a cop.”
I look around at all four men in my home. Gutter remains quiet as he glares at me. We’ve never met in person, but I’ve read plenty in his profile.
“Why are you here?” I bite out. “If you know so much, you know I didn’t hand over shit to indict a single one of you.”
“And that’s why I’m here,” Ice says. “You have a problem, brother. Someone wants you dead so they can pin the murder on us. I’m not going to let that happen.”
“But in order to prevent that, we need to do things our way,” Brick says. “It’s about to get messy before we all walk away clean.”
“Why? Why help me and why come here to tell me?”
“Like I said. I like you and I have respect for what you did for us while a part of our family. I told you, you have my loyalty for life. I meant that shit.”
“My Prez says he owes you a favor as well. So, we’re here to solve your problem and ours,” Brick says.
“Do you know what really happened that night you were shot?” Vault asks.
“No, I got a text to come inside. It was a little weird. Ice had said he’d be right back, he forgot something. The text came right after he left me.”
“You didn’t think something was fishy about that?” Brick asks.
“I did. The text wasn’t from his number,” I muse aloud.
When I got inside, I heard someone behind me, but they got off the shot before I could turn. From there, I remember bleeding out and Ice’s voice telling me to hold on. That’s all I remember.
“You were shot by a Falcon,” Ice says gruffly. “An Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms agent, named Eddy Broker.”
“Motherfucker. Can you prove this?”
“Sure can, that’s why he wants you dead,” Gutter speaks up for the first time.
“So what’s the plan?”
“We need him gone, but Eddy isn’t going down without a fight. He’s fucked over too many people to land in a jail cell,” Brick says.
“This is true. However, he and the others need to be revealed or else this shit will just continue,” Vault counters.
“We want to be left alone to live our lives in peace. You’ve been a brother. You see how hard we work. We don’t have time for this shit. It took years to get to where we are and we’re not going to let anyone take that from us,” Ice says.
“Then we need to expose him, not dispose of him,” I reply.
My phone rings pulling my attention. When I pull it out, I see it’s Rem. I frown knowing I can’t answer right now, I need to take care of this situation. I send the call to voicemail.
“He’s right, you know. We need to root out everyone involved,” Vault says.
“So tell me what you would do,” Ice says to me when I look up.
* * *
Reminisce
I lookat my phone and grind my teeth. It’s the third time I’ve called Knight and received his voicemail. I know something is off. It’s a feeling I have.
I place the phone against my forehead. I should let this go and move on. It would be for the best. Only, my heart isn’t in agreement with that.
I dial my sister. She will be the sounding board I need. I have to get out of my head after the things Knight said. If I don’t, I know I’ll spiral into a panic attack.
“Hello,” Saga says, not sounding like herself.
“Everything okay?”
“I … yeah. It will be fine. What’s up?”
I pause for a moment. I don’t want to dump my shit on Saga if she’s dealing with something of her own. I release a sigh low enough for her not to hear.
“You know what. It’s not that big a deal. I’m going for a run. Call you later.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m good.”
“Okay, call me in the morning. We can talk then.”
I hang up, but her words linger for a moment. I stop analyzing them before I drive myself crazy. Saga will talk when she’s ready.
Frustrated, I toss my phone down, refusing to call Knight again. I flop back on my bed and throw my arms over my face. I wish I were more like my sister and brother, but I’m not.
I never knew how sheltered I had been until starting my job at the DOJ. The deeper I got into the job, the more I saw how much my mother and father shielded me from.
“I’m a fucking punk,” I mutter.
Honestly, I’d be okay with that if it weren’t the biggest thing keeping me from the man I love. However, self-preservation wins out every time when it comes to Knight.
“Something isn’t right, but do I really want to know?”
I catch a chill even as I speak the words.