Chapter 26
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX
Rain
It’s been days since the arrest, but the anxious feeling inside of me won’t go away. Being arrested wasn’t the problem, though.
No, it was the way that man talked to me. He thinks he is higher than the law. That he can do whatever he wants. Unfortunately, people in his position abuse their power and get away with it. The feeling of dread inside of me has me believing he will too.
I’ve been trying to hide my feelings from Ridge, though. As soon as he saw me at the station, he held me to him like he thought he’d almost lost me. Then he demanded that I tell him everything.
Seeing the anger on his face as I told him some of the things Detective Hampton said to me made me realize that if I told him he touched me, he would kill him. I cannot have Ridge go to prison, so I wisely kept that bit to myself.
The lawyer the club hired has been trying to figure out what avenues we can take to lodge formal complaints.
It looks like the body cam footage from that night included every other cop, but not Hampton.
He claims it malfunctioned, but we believe he never had one on.
It doesn’t help that the one that would normally be inside a cop car didn’t exist, so it didn’t record our conversation either.
I guess he doesn’t usually transport, so his car isn’t required to be equipped with one.
They already knew the cameras were off when he interrogated Ridge.
The rage I felt when I found out that he tried to strangle my husband?
Yeah, I can see why Ridge would be willing to go to jail for murder.
I kept my cool, though. I went back to work and acted like everything was fine. Still, I can’t help but look over my shoulder and wonder when he will harass us next.
“That’s the third time you have looked out the window. Want to tell me what’s bothering you?” Ridge calls from the couch.
I hadn’t even realized that I kept walking to the window. All I know is that I feel restless. I cannot relax.
“No. Not really,” I mumble.
He pats the couch next to him. “Come talk to me.”
I sigh, but make my way over to him. When I sit down, he puts his arm around me, pulling me closer to him.
“Tell me what it is,” he demands.
“I feel like he is always watching us. I see strange cars on our street, and I wonder if it is him or one of his lackeys. I get a call at work, and I’m worried it’s him on the other end.
When you leave, I worry that the next time I see you, it will be in a body bag because he finally finished the deed.
I hate that I have let him invade my life this way, but I can’t help but worry. ”
He rubs my arm. “It’s natural to feel this way.
You feel powerless because he is here trying to take our power.
He hasn’t taken it, though. He only thinks he has.
He is a weak man. He has to feed on the fear of others to survive.
He might have someone in a higher place watching out for him, but it won’t last forever.
We will take him down and move on with our lives.
Besides, he won’t ever kill me. I won’t let him take me from you. ”
His reassurance helps ease some of my anxiety, but not all of it.
“I feel like it is all my fault. I could have given him something, and he would have never come to you. It could have been something Dad did back in the day. He’s not here for him to go after anymore.
He wouldn’t have minded, but I insulted him and made things worse. ” I groan, burrowing into his neck.
“Nah, you showed him why you are called Viper. That man would have gotten off on you being a weak woman. The way you stood up to him? I guarantee you got under his skin. I will never be angry at you for standing up for yourself, even if I have to take the consequences of it. In fact, I’d rather be the one to take those consequences.
I will take every ounce of pain due to you in a heartbeat if I could. ”
“When you say sweet things like that, it makes me feel a little bit bad that I’m always so mean to you,” I murmur.
He chuckles. “Don’t. When you are mean to me, it makes me hard.”
I shake my head but remain quiet.
After a moment, he speaks again. “I know we need to do something about him. We are working on a plan, but until we have one, we have to try to survive. Move on with our lives so he doesn’t win. He wants to be that thing we constantly think about. By giving him that power, you are letting him win.”
“I know. Is it bad that I hope he gets herpes?” I ask.
He snorts. “He probably already does. Remember, he spent years undercover with prostitutes. I don’t care what you say, there is no way he didn’t have to fuck a few to keep up his street cred. I know cops who have had to do cocaine to not blow their cover.”
“You’re probably right. Thank you for talking me down off a ledge. I really do love you. You know that, right?”
He turns his head, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “I love you too, Viper. Forever and always.”
Maybe things won’t be all right. Maybe Hampton will win and get his way, but until we know for sure, Ridge is right.
We are going to live our lives, and as long as I have him by my side, I know we will be okay.
Ridge
Last night with Rain made me realize that we need to stop waiting around for the lawyer to figure out a way to get this guy out of our lives. So I asked Panther if we could call a club meeting. Thankfully, he agreed.
After making sure she was at work and taken care of, I made the ride out to the clubhouse. I hate that I am abandoning my crew yet again, but I know the men we hired can handle the job. It’s why we keep them well paid.
I’m the first to the meeting room. Panther comes in next.
“You made it here quickly,” he comments.
“I followed Rain to work. She’s not doing well. This is all going to her head,” I admit to him.
“Don’t worry. We will come up with a plan. We have let this go on for far too long.”
I sigh. “I wish we could take him out. It would give me peace of mind.”
He nods. “It would give us all peace of mind, but the fucker has been too loud. The blowback isn’t worth it. We don’t need a brother in jail unless it becomes life or death. Right now, he is more of an annoying gnat.”
He’s right, and I know it, but it still doesn’t mean I like it.
Slowly, the others all filter in. Once everyone is seated, Panther calls the meeting to order.
“Ridge asked for this meeting, so why don’t you start us off?” Panther tells the group.
“I know we have been talking about Hampton for a while now, but we need to do something. Rain is on edge. She rarely settles anymore. I swear to god, if I come home to any more bread, I am going to need a month to sleep off all the carbs I’m consuming. We have to get rid of this guy,” I tell them.
Meek clears his throat. “So I have found out some more about the guy. It took a lot of digging. His file is encrypted so well that I almost missed the thread to unwind it. Wolf, you were a cop. Who would have the power to pull him from undercover and assign him his own gang unit with free rein?”
Wolf curses. “Fuck, I don’t know why I didn’t think about it. I was FBI, so it was more national, but most local places have one person they all answer to. He is more powerful than anyone.”
“Who?” I ask.
“The governor. I bet he has something on him. Think about it. If the governor likes some ass from time to time and has to pay for it, he would do it without question. Now let’s say the pimp he happens to hire said girl from happens to be an undercover cop who is on punishment?
That is blackmail that could give dude the world,” Wolf tells us.
The grim reality sets in. There’s no way he is going to go away quietly. No amount of pushing is going to get us where we need to be.
Fuck.
Meek types on his computer a bit before he speaks up again.
“You’re correct. Governor Richland enjoys call girls.
It wouldn’t be a long stretch to put those two together.
From looking at the encrypted files, I found out that Hampton only took over the unit six months ago.
He’s been biding his time, waiting to come after you.
He probably had to build trust with his men. ”
“How do we get around this then?” I ask. “Rain can’t live like this. She grew up in the club, but she never had to deal with this shit before. Cops left the kids alone. She’s not a kid anymore. She’s my old lady.”
Yak leans over and pats my arm. “We will keep her safe, brother. The only reason she got arrested the other night was because she wasn’t with the old ladies. The cops on our payroll circled them and protected them the moment they got in.”
He’s right. Guilt sets in at the thought of her being spared all of that had she only been at the table instead of in the back fucking me.
I rub my hand down my face. “What’s the plan then?”
“If we can’t fight him the legal way, then we take it to the court of public opinion.
Social media is huge these days. It doesn’t matter what the truth is.
If we can catch him doing wrong on camera and blast it on social media before they can get it taken down, the governor won’t be able to do anything for him.
He will have to be held accountable for his actions.
It might not get him fired, but it will slow him the fuck down,” Wolf admits.
“Sometimes I hate that you used to be a cop, but then you become all useful like this and shit,” Eagle mutters under his breath.
“Aww, you love Wolfy, but he’s my best friend,” Yak tells Eagle.
“Enough. Stay on task. Meek, I want cameras on all the bikes and outside all our homes. Hell, put them inside too. We each wear body cameras. We record everything. All the women are to be protected at all times. That means escorts to and from work. Kids get escorted to and from school. No buses. When this fucker strikes again, I want proof of what he has done. Meek, blast it on social media right away. I want it out before the situation even finishes. Get all the keyboard warriors on our side,” Panther demands.
“Yes, sir,” Meek says, typing away on his computer.
“We will take this guy down even if it takes us years. We don’t tolerate threats to our family,” Panther says, looking at me.
I nod my appreciation.
When he bangs the gavel, I feel like we truly might find a way out of this.
I thank each brother as they leave, grateful that they have my back. I might have made a mistake casing that house that night, but I won’t ever regret it because it brought me to this club.
Now if only Detective Hampton would fuck off, then life would be all right.