Chapter 20
My phone wakes me, vibrating on the table.
“What?” I bite out before looking to see who it is.
“Eli, need you to come in.”
“What?” I pull the phone back, seeing my captain’s name on the screen.
“Sorry, I know you covered your shift for today, but it’s an all hands on thing and unless you’re too far. I need you here.”
“Ugh,” I groan out, glancing over at Drew, pulling a grin to my face as she lies sprawled out, the sheet just barely covering her nipple.
“Leech?” comes through the phone, and I cringe. Something about my last name always gets to me.
“Yeah, I’m on my way. I’m out in Topanga, though, so it’ll take a minute.”
“That’s fine. We’ll fill you in before we head out.”
I mumble something out before I roll over, looking at her lying there.
“Hey, Sketch,” I whisper, seeing her eyes move back and forth under the lids. “I have to go into work for a bit.”
“What?” Her sleepy eyes look up at me.
“Yeah, they just called. But I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Okay,” she whispers before I lean into her, pressing my lips to hers. Being able to tell they’re still swollen from last night.
“Go back to sleep. I’ll be back soon.”
“Hurry, I love you.” Nodding her head, she smiles.
The grin taking over me just from hearing her say the words. Feeling as if a woman like her, loving me, is too good to be true.
“I love you, too.”
* * *
The drive back takes longer than I wish it would, most of the drive back is in the dark, and as I walk through the station doors, people are scurrying around.
“Leech, hurry, get changed. We’ve gotta go.”
“Go where?” I ask them, but he’s already down the hallway before I finish my question.
“Surprised you’re coming along for this?” Collins laughs from behind me.
“What? Why?”
“Oh shit, they didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“It’s your boy.”
“What?” I gasp out as I look at him.
Pushing into the locker room, I look around. Most of everyone has already left the building; they’re all hold up waiting for the word, watching his movements.
It’s silent in here.
“Hello?” I call out just to make sure, waiting for the answer that never comes.
Pulling out the burner, I swing my locker open, slipping out of my jeans. “Come on, pick up, pick up, pick up.” I mutter into the phone. “Fuck.” I mumble when the voicemail starts.
Hanging up, and trying once more as I pull the shirt up over my head, jamming the phone back between my shoulder and ear. Voicemail starts again, and I groan out.
The only thing I can do is get there as soon as possible.
Collins nods over to a car, telling me to follow him as I walk into the lot. We pull out onto the road, and he looks over at me, sighing. “Call him.”
“What?”
“Sherman’s retaliating. He pushed it through with some bullshit reasoning.”
“You sure you know if they find out…”
“I know what they’ll fucking do.” He snaps at me. “I’m not here to be like them.”
Once more, pulling out the burner, not even concerned that he’ll connect how this isn’t my phone, and scrolling to Z’s name. Pausing one more second, not wanting to pull Collins down into my fucked-up world, he nods.
“Do it.”
Pressing send and putting it to my ear, I’m once again disappointed when the line continues to ring before the voicemail starts.
“Here,” Collins says as he hands me the file to look over.
They’ve already forced the gates open.
We pull up just in time to see Z being shoved into the back of the cop car and Tate sobbing on the porch. A protective shield of MC members standing between her and the rest of the cops, confirming my suspicion that Darren set all of this up to force her out of here.
…Little does he know…
Getting out of the car, I walk over to my captain.
“You’re late.” He snaps at me.
“I told you it was gonna take me a while to get here.”
“Whatever.” He’s annoyed with me. “We’ve got it handled here; why don’t you go back to the precinct and make sure everything’s going smoothly there.” He pauses again, staring me down.
Now I’m annoyed as they just drug me out of bed in another city to send me back to the precinct.
“Unless there’s something you think we should know when we’re looking around.”
I could tell them about the panic room in the basement’s bathroom or how it leads to a tunnel system, with exits out of the compound, to the clubhouse, and all the houses.
I could tell him about the stash room underneath the garage.
Or the safe. I’m sure that it’s still loaded with cash.
I could tell him about the basement at Pistons.
I could tell them about the safe house out in the desert.
Hell, I could tell them any of these things because, without my knowledge, I’m certain they’ll never find it.
“I can’t think of anything.” I shake my head.
I would never.
“Right,” he nods his head. For the first time, I know people are seeing through the facade of a life I’m trying to portray.
He walks off, grumbling under his breath.
Turning, Collins and I walk back to the cruiser. I don’t look at anyone else, especially not at the family standing on the porch.
But I hear Zeke’s voice shouting. “That was your husband?” I’m more surprised that he’s back than the overreaction I’m sure he’s about to display. “I thought my brother was at least smarter than that.”
I wonder if Drew knows he’s home.
We’re pulling down the trail as memories come flooding back through me. I get why Z hates me; if I were him, I’d hate me too, but he doesn’t know the entire story. If he only understood the why, but I made that promise to Ash, none of this would come to light until it had to.
Making our way to the road, I see the parked police car blocking the trail.
“That isn’t fucking good.” Collins mumbles, pulling the car up behind Darren’s.
I’m already moving over to them, shouting, as Z coughs out from the force of Darren’s punch. “Whoa!”
“Hit me one more time and see what fucking happens.” Z’s voice is furious, but calm, which I’ve never seen out of him, and it’s fucking terrifying.
“You…” Darren points at him and rushes again. Launching myself at him, I wrap my arms around him, dragging him backward away from the side of the car.
“Just because you can smell your wife’s pussy on me doesn’t mean I won’t hit back.”
Collins coughs, trying to conceal his laugh.
“Goddamnit,” I mutter to myself as Darren shoves me backwards, just trying to keep myself righted before I hear the hollow thud as Z thrusts his head at him.
Looking at them, Z laughs out, and as I look over at him, I can see the trail of blood down his face. I’m not sure whose blood it is, though. Darren stands holding his nose, withering because everyone heard that shit break just now.
“Just add assaulting an officer to the list of charges.”
Yup, by how he sounds, broken.
“Hmm.” Z just shrugs before glancing over to my cruiser and nodding.
“Pretty sure the dash cam got everything, including at least one of the gut punches you already got in.” He’s right, it did.
I’m not really sure what exactly to say before he looks at me.
“I’m thinking him alone in a car with me is a pretty bad idea. ”
I just nod and look at Darren. “He’s right. I’ll take him up to the station. You take my car.” I nod to him, not letting him answer. Darren slams the door shut after Z swings his legs back in so hard it sways the car.
“Cut it out.” I snap at him and push him backward. I don’t mean to, but Darren loses his footing and falls backward onto the ground.
I don’t stay to apologize. Moving into the car, I turn the mics off on the cameras.
“What did you do to piss him off that badly?” I ask Z, as I see his hostility shift towards me.
“Told him the truth.” I meet his eyes in the mirror before he nods. “Don’t worry, I kept your name out of it.”
I nod my head, knowing him well enough to know he’s thinking to himself how he shouldn’t have, because I’m a traitor.
“I tried to call you this morning and give you a heads-up, but no answer.”
“Thanks, man.” He deflates. I watch as the reality of the situation dawns on him, and he leans his head back against the seat. “How bad is it?”
“If I were to look just at the evidence without knowing everything, without knowing you… I would assume it was you.”
“What makes you think it wasn’t me?”
“You had no reason to kill him, and Darren knows that putting you in prison will hurt her. It’s his Hail Mary play.”
“They won’t let him take her back.”
Glancing back up in the mirror, I look straight at him. “You know that. And I know that. But he has no fucking clue.”
Pulling the car over, “Where’s your phone?”
“I don’t have it.”
“Shit.”
He rattles a number off to me, and I look up again.
“What?”
“Axe’s number.”
Keeping the phone out of the camera’s view, I punch the number into my phone. It rings once as I switch it to speakerphone and start moving away from the compound again.
“What?”
“Axe, it’s me.”
“What?” this time sounding concerned.
“It’s Eli’s phone. Look, get her out of there. He’s gonna come back.”
“Yeah, I was just thinking that.”
“Get the girls out, scrub it down.” I glance in the mirror, seeing the concern on his face as he leans forward. “Get them out of there before they come back.”
“We’ll have them out in a couple hours.”
“Shit,” he pauses, almost as an afterthought. “Take Drew with you.”
My heart shatters as I think about her sprawled out in the bed as I left this morning.
“What?” the voice from the speaker asks my question for me.
“Her apartment’s paid for with club funds; they’re going to trace and search it. She needs to stay as far away from all this as possible.”
I realize as I watch him what I have to do. If the station found out I was letting him make this call, it would be my job. Hell, if the station found out I was fucking Drew, it’d be my job. When they find out all of this is a sham…
They’re going to do whatever they can to get to Z, and I have to figure out a way to keep them away from him.
And I know how that’ll end. I know what keeping her close to me will cause once it’s all out. They’ll question her; hell, they’ll even try to say she had some part in it.
I can’t have that.