35. Soul
Soul
The worst part of prison is being separated from everyone.
From the second the car door closed behind me, I’ve been by myself, in a cell as far away from my brothers as they could put us to ensure we couldn’t communicate.
The only contact I’ve had with the club, or Emery, has been through Tanner, and I’m going out of my fucking mind.
How did Chaos handle being locked up as long as he did?
At least back then, he was single. Now, he must be missing Willa as much as I’m missing Emery and Charlie.
I close my eyes, breathing deep through my nose and resting my head against the brick wall behind me.
I hate not knowing how they’re doing. Emery doesn’t eat when she’s stressed, and Charlie takes twice as long to go to sleep when I don’t hum her songs to her before bed.
These past few days have been worse than the ten months I spent searching for Emery.
Now that I know what it’s like to have them in my life, I can’t give them up.
My eyes blink open to my empty cell.
This still doesn’t make sense. The Feds haven’t been sniffing around the Iron Sinners case for months, and the staged footage of us buying explosives was wiped months ago when the case was closed. It shouldn’t exist anymore.
Not to mention, it’s not the Feds who brought us in here. It’s local cops, claiming to have that video we destroyed. Hopefully, Tanner has answers at our bail hearing.
A bail hearing. I almost fucking laugh.
They aren’t planning on setting a bail amount. They’ll do whatever they can to keep us locked up. We’ll be lucky if we ever get out.
A cop walks past my cell, slowing to give me a smug grin as he saunters past.
“What the fuck are you smiling at?” I narrow my eyes, wishing I could slam his face into the bars.
His teeth clench, and he pauses, but another cop plants a hand on his shoulder before he says anything.
“I’ve got this.”
The smug cop huffs, tipping his chin up and walking away.
“Keep it up.” The cop—Rhett, according to his name badge—steps forward. “You’re gonna be here a long time. Might want to learn your place.”
“Not a chance in fucking hell.”
“Have it your way.” Rhett’s grin turns malicious. “The judge is ready. Get your back to the bars.”
I’m tempted to reach through them and punch the smile off his face instead, but that won’t win me any points with the judge, so I do as I’m told. I back up to the bars, positioning my hands at the slot where Rhett can put me in cuffs.
Once he’s done, he shoves me forward. My teeth click as he opens my cell, grinning like he didn’t just push me.
“Walk.” He points to the right, and I grind my teeth as I move past him.
If the judge is anything like the assholes who have been taunting me for the past few days, there’s no way in hell I’m getting out on bail.
Rhett shoves me again when we reach a different hallway, and I find him grinning when I look over my shoulder.
He’s trying to get me to snap—to add to my list of offenses.
Before Emery and Charlie, I might have fallen for it.
Now, I cling to any hope of seeing them again, resisting the urge to kick this asshole cop in the fucking nuts.
“Sit.” He stops when we reach a bench at the end of the hall. “Try anything, and I’ll happily put a bullet in your head. It would save everyone a lot of trouble. And trust me, the judge won’t mind.”
Excellent.
I’m definitely not getting bail set.
Rhett strides away as the door at the other end of the hallway swings open, and another cop leads Chaos through. He shoves Chaos down onto the bench, glaring at him. I get the feeling Chaos didn’t show the same restraint I did.
Venom joins us next. We’re seated in a row waiting to be called in front of the judge while the cops gather by the door to the courthouse and talk shit about us.
“Have you talked to Willa?” I keep my voice low, shifting toward Chaos.
He shakes his head. “The only call they let me make was to Tanner.”
“Same.”
“He said she and Emery have been looking out for each other, but I fucking hate it.”
Tanner told me the same thing, and like with Chaos, it didn’t make me feel better.
“This shit doesn’t make sense,” Venom says, leaning closer and keeping his voice low. “I thought we stripped the footage once the case was closed.”
“We did,” Chaos confirms. “I did it myself. Someone must have downloaded it before that happened.”
“Maybe. But why didn’t they just use it back then?” The video was all the Feds would have needed to lock the three of us up for the explosion. Instead, whoever had the video held back.
“No idea, but they held onto it until now for a reason.” Venom’s jaw tightens.
We’re all thinking the same thing. Whatever their reason, it can’t be good.
The cops quiet as something comes through their radios.
“Looks like it’s time,” Chaos grumbles.
Rhett rolls his shoulders back, gripping his belt as he walks over. “Looks like you’re up first, asshole.”
“Lucky me.” I smirk, and he grabs my shoulder, pulling me to my feet and slamming me against a wall. My eyes narrow on him. “What do you think it says about you that you have to hit a guy when his hands are tied behind his back?”
“That he’s a fucking coward,” Chaos answers.
I appreciate it, but my brother needs to keep his mouth shut because this isn’t his first strike.
“Have fun running your mouths now.” Rhett chuckles, pulling me off the wall and pushing me toward the courtroom. “I have a feeling the judge will be shutting you up real soon.”
My stomach turns to lead at his comment.
I glance back at Venom and Chaos, and the same defeat casts shadows over their expressions.
We’re fucked.
Rhett leads me into the courtroom, and the first thing I do is look for Emery. Tanner already warned me that she’d be leaving Charlie at home, and as much as I miss her, I don’t blame her for keeping our daughter out of this.
I scan the faces in the gallery, but Emery is nowhere to be seen.
Rhett walks me to my seat, and the district attorney watches the entire time with a smug grin on his face. He’s a little too happy for me to feel good about what I’m walking into.
I look for Emery again, but she’s still not here. Neither is Tanner.
Something’s not right. My intuition is kicking into full gear. The doors swing open, and Steel walks through with a murderous expression that has the universe tilting. He shoves his way through the group crowding the aisle, and since the judge has yet to arrive, I turn in my seat.
Steel sits in the front row, the district attorney watching us. We shouldn’t be talking. If anything, this just adds to the case, but something is wrong.
“We have a problem,” Steel says, raking his hair back.
“Does it have something to do with Tanner not being here?”
He nods. “His car was hit by a truck on his way to the courthouse.”
“Is he alive?”
“Barely. And one of our new prospects is dead.”
“Fuck,” I mutter, but then it hits me. “Where was Emery?”
“She was in the car with Tanner.”
My blood runs cold. “Is she okay?”
His teeth grind, and I hate that he has to take a moment to think it over. “We believe so.”
“What the fuck does that mean? How do you not know?” My fingers clench so tightly my nails dig into my palms.
“Havoc and I were in the car behind them, but we got separated in traffic. By the time we pulled up to the scene, it was a mess, and—” Shouting from the hallway cuts Steel off.
We turn, hearing Chaos yelling something from behind the closed doors. Something crashes, and I know in my bones something terrible happened. Willa was also coming today, and she was supposed to be with Emery.
“Where is Emery?” I turn back to Steel, needing answers.
“Gone.”
It takes me a moment to process what he says. The word is suddenly foreign because I refuse to accept it.
“What the fuck do you mean she’s gone?”
“Someone took her. We think they staged the accident to get access.”
“Zane?” I guess.
Steel shakes his head. “We thought that, too, until he showed up just as confused.”
The door to the courtroom swings open again, and Steel glances back as Zane strides through, his eyes lethal.
“He’s not behind this, Soul,” Steel says, and I turn back to him. “This was Eli. Zane owes him a debt, and he’s done waiting.”