18. Char #2
She stalked toward me. “What the fuck does that mean, Deacon?”
“All right, all right,” Nielson said as he stepped in front of her, “let’s just take a deep breath and take this one step at a time.”
The anger in her face was just a mask for her fear, I knew that. But it didn’t help me to watch her struggle like that.
“They’re going to be okay,” I said.
“So you don’t know for sure that they’re okay. Why?” she asked.
Her eyes were wild with fury, and I couldn’t blame her. This situation had completely gotten away with us and we were scrambling against a fucking federal agent.
We had to play this calmly.
Otherwise, we’d all go to prison by the end of it.
“We watched her kill Doc,” I said.
That ripped everyone back to my reality.
“What?” Char asked with a gasp.
Nielson grimaced. “Of fucking course, she did.”
“Wait, you actually saw it?” Char asked.
I nodded. “When we started tracking her, Plug pulled up camera angles and?—”
She waved her hand in the air. “You witnessed it, so you can prove it. Right?”
I smirked. “Not only did we witness it, we have it recorded.”
“Deacon!” Char exclaimed. “That’s incredible.
She jumped back into my arms and I swung her around. I knew she wouldn’t like the rest of what I had to say, but I’d take her praise anytime I could get it. Her warmth encompassed me. My cock pulsed with a need for her body beneath mine. And as she clung to me, only one thought crossed my mind.
I could do this for the rest of my days.
“Ahem,” Sheriff Nielson said as he cleared his throat.
I put Char down and she blushed furiously. “Sorry.”
I captured her lips in another kiss. “Never be sorry for that.”
“He’s right, though,” Char said as she stayed at my side and turned to Nielson, “that doesn’t explain this email. Who is she talking with? Who else has that information?”
Then the door to our room eased open before that little cunt of a deputy poked his head in. “Mind if I weigh in?”
I wrapped my arm around Char and tugged her close to my side. I didn’t want another second going by without part of her body touching my own. I wanted to know that she was there. Alive and breathing, and safe. But all eyes were on Nielson as he cased his officer with his stare.
“Can you trust him?” Char asked.
“With my life,” Nielson said.
“But?” I asked.
Nielson took a step toward the young man. “But, I want to know why the fuck he was eavesdropping in the first place.”
“Good question,” I said as I pinned that deputy with a look. “Why the eavesdropping?”
The deputy’s face paled. “I-I-I—I didn’t mean to. I—I just?—”
“Spit it out,” Char and I said in unison.
Her face whipped up to mine, and I swear to hell on high, I’d never fallen more in love with a woman than in that moment with her. God, she looked so beautiful, even in the harsh lighting of the interrogation room.
I couldn’t wait to get her back home.
“Go on, Deputy,” the sheriff finally said.
That pulled my attention away from Char, but just barely.
“Well,” the deputy said as he wrung his hands together, “it doesn’t really make sense for someone like her running the job that she is to kill someone she’s investigating. I mean, how is she going to explain the body?”
“Point taken,” Char said.
The deputy held his finger up. “But, it does make sense for a woman like herself to kill someone you’re working with to save your own hide.”
I narrowed my eyes to slits. “You think she’s dirty, too.”
The deputy snickered. “You telling me after all this shit that she’s somehow not?”
Char looked up at me, and I looked down at her.
“Well?” I asked as I pulled her even closer.
She leaned her head against me. “Well we’ve just proven that this really isn’t about me. That I just got caught in the crossfire of all this.”
“Honestly?” the deputy asked. “She probably saw you and figured you were a good enough cover story in case someone sniffed around.”
“But she’s flying by the seat of her pants now and everything is unraveling,” I said.
“Wait, you think so?” Char asked.
“What have you not told us yet?” Nielson asked.
“Well for starters, she blew the motel room she’s been staying in to the fucking moon,” I said.
Nielson blinked. “Were there others around?”
I nodded. “Men. Women. Children. She’s officially scrambling.”
“Oh dear God,” Char said breathlessly.
“Where?” Nielson glowered. “Do their local precincts need any help?”
“That’s a question for Plug,” I said as I reluctantly released Char, “but right now, our communications are sparse. It’s a motel in Hayward, though.”
He backtracked toward the door. “I’ve got some phone calls to place.”
“Anyone know who sent her that email?” the deputy asked quickly.
“Deac?” Char asked.
“We’re having Plug look into it,” I said.
“Deputy Carlyle, with me,” the sheriff commanded as he reached for the doorknob.
“There’s one other theory that makes sense,” Char said.
That paused everyone in the room, Nielson included.
“Go on,” he said as he turned away from the doorknob.
Char looked over at me and I nodded my head, urging her to speak. Her theories had kept us on track this far. No use in shutting her up at that point.
“Go ahead,” I said, “we’re all ears.”
“Okay, so,” she said as walked over and finally got herself some coffee, “we know she’s Internal Affairs. We know she investigated Doc for being a dirty ATF agent. We know how all of this is interconnected because watching Doc would’ve led to you guys, easily.”
“Right,” I said.
“So, what are you thinking?” Nielson asked.
“An eye for an eye?” she asked as she looked up at me. “Ring any bells?”
And as she stared up at me with those sparkling winter blue eyes of hers, I loved her more in that moment than I ever loved anything. My father. My men. My club. My bike. My businesses. My money.
“I fucking love that mind of yours,” I growled as I scooped her into my arms.
She giggled as I peppered her with kisses. “By the time I’m done, you’ll love more than just that.”
“Uh, someone want to fill us in? Please?” the deputy asked.
“Yeah, what he said,” Nielson muttered.
I released her, but it would be the last time that evening. Because if I had her in my arms again, I’d clear everyone out with the things I’d do to her right there on that motherfucking metal table.
I bet her pale skin would look amazing against its shining surface.
“Her motive,” I said as relief rushed over me. “Char just gave us motive.”
“I’m still not following,” Nielson said.
“It’s the last thing Bait said to the guys before that bitch blew him to hell and back,” I said as I walked over to the sheriff. “An eye for an eye, that’s what he kept repeating.”
“Jesus,” the deputy whispered.
“That’s what he wanted us to know. Even with his dying breath, Nielson, that man wanted us to know that a woman spoke to him in that van, and that she kept saying ‘an eye for an eye.’”
I heard Char chugging before her strained voice rang out. “Sheriff, keep digging and see if Captain Murphy had any major influence on that woman’s career. I know you’ll find it, and when you do, you’ll realize that she blames the crew for turning one of the good guys bad.”
The sheriff’s eyes widened in surprise before he cupped his hands over his face. “My God.”
I held out my arms. “So she takes out one of our guys as recompense for us supposedly turning Doc bad.”
“And,” the deputy said as he put his finger back in the air, “she most likely killed Murphy to cover up the fact that she’s gone rogue.”
Holy fucking Christ, we finally had a fully fledged working theory that fit all of the cards in play.
“Sheriff?” I asked.
He tore out of the room with the deputy’s wrist clenched firmly in his fist. “We won’t stop until we have that connection. Wait here, we’ll go get it for you before you guys head out.”
And the instant the door closed behind those two, the smile on Char’s face slipped away. The excitement in her stare fell into one of sharp intent as she turned herself toward me.
“All right, Deac,” she said as her voice lowered, “start from the beginning and tell me exactly what the fuck you got your guys into after I left. And don’t you dare leave anything out.”
Yes. Fucking. Ma’am.