Chapter 34 #3
I chose that moment to strike, reaching out to both sides and hooking my arms around the two men beside me.
Rubin and Owen fell into place next to me, their bodies stumbling before they stood taller and kept their balance.
Owen stiffened in my grip, every part of him wanting to fight to push me off as he looked up at Mayor Walsh like he didn’t know him.
He failed, and the subtle swallowing of guilt drifted down his neck like a lodged stone.
He didn’t even need to tell me what he’d done now.
I could feel it as I held onto him, and his confession was etched into his eyes.
Rubin, however, was relaxed. His shoulders slumped in my grip, and when he looked up at his father, there was defiance there.
A little bit of hatred, too.
Mayor Walsh’s face fell as soon as he saw his son, and when his attention drifted over to Owen, he looked pissed.
Was he wondering if Owen had confessed everything to me and had double betrayed us both?
I hoped so. I really did. Which was why I chose to rest my head against Owen’s while I had the Mayor’s attention, my smile smug and knowing.
“Do we look like nothing to you, Mayor Walsh?” I tugged on Owen’s shoulder, bouncing him in my grip.
“This man right here is one of the most intelligent men I’ve ever had the pure delight of working beside.
I mean, shit,” I laughed. “If you want your books keeping in order, he’s your guy.
If you want to know anything —anything—about anyone within a hundred- kilometer radius, well, I bet this guy can probably tell you.
He has eyes and ears everywhere. Has his fingers in a lot of pies, too.
But do you know what the best thing about him is? ”
Owen tensed even more, his fists flexing down by my thigh, while Walsh’s face flexed in anger as he replied through gritted teeth. “What?”
“The best thing about Owen Sinclair is his unwavering loyalty to his brothers.”
Walsh looked at Owen, his eyes going wild with questions he couldn’t ask out loud.
“And this kid.” I tugged on Rubin’s shoulder, pulling him closer.
“Ah, this kid. Your very own son. The unsung hero of Babylon. The one who stopped those horrible Navarro rifles—you may have heard of them—from shooting an innocent woman in the head when they rode into our town and tried to bring disruption, murder, and scandal to our streets.”
More gasps from the crowds, the information more like a story to their innocent ears, each of them looking around at once another again.
“I’ll never understand why you didn’t tell the whole world how brave your son was that night, Mayor Walsh.
I’ll never understand why you kept his story so…
quiet. So under wraps. He took a shot against a man who was going to kill an innocent woman dead in the street without any reason or motive.
Your son did that. He saved a beautiful woman’s life, and you haven’t built a statue in his honor.
” I shook my head again and wrinkled my nose. “Weird.”
The Mayor cleared his throat roughly before he rested both palms on the stand in front of him and leaned forward. “Rubin?”
But Rubin just shook his head, telling his dad he was staying exactly where he was.
“In fact,” I interrupted, glancing up at the sky. “Weren’t you the one to actually help those Navarro guys get away from Babylon without any charges or arrests?”
The Mayor was openly furious now, his fists shaking and his face turning purple. “That doesn’t sound accurate,” he forced out through tight lips.
“Really?” I sighed heavily. “My mistake. But don’t you worry about Rubin. We’ve celebrated this unsung hero enough in the last month alone than you have in the kid’s sixteen years of life.”
“Mr. Tucker, if you don’t leave, I’ll be calling the police to—”
The laughter that roared free from me had my head falling back and my chest bouncing furiously.
When I looked up, my smile beaming and my eyes glistening with tears, I released Owen and Rubin, leaving them at the back of the group of men before I marched forward with purpose, heading straight for Walsh.
Three men immediately appeared from nowhere, stepping out in front of his stand to scare me with their earpieces in place and their guns in their hands.
It made me high on life, knowing they were there for me.
Stopping halfway down the aisle they’d created between the seats, I joined my hands together and let them hang limply in front of me.
“Go ahead.” I chucked my chin again. “Call the police.” I gestured to Winnie, not looking away from Walsh as I did.
“Hell, get the ATF to come by The Hut and take a look around, no warrant needed. We’ve got a lot of paperwork I bet they’d be real interested in taking a look through.
” I raised a brow at Walsh, watching the fear and uncertainty flicker through his eyes with every breath he took.
The guy was panicking all right.
He had no idea who was on his side. Owen? Rubin? The town and all the people in it?
“Men like Harry, God rest his soul, and Owen who I just introduced you to… those guys keep records of everything. Accounts, receipts, diaries, stories of places we’ve been…
people we associate with. We have a lot of photographs, too.
Owen especially likes to keep photographic evidence of CCTV footage wherever the hell he goes.
We’ve probably got everything you need. Lots and lots of webs to untangle. ”
I saw Walsh gulp, his face stern as he studied me.
“I’ll let them search through all our shit because my club and I have fuck all to hide,” I told him firmly, all humor falling away from my voice and my face.
“I’ll let them search through my shit if you’ll agree to let them search through yours, Mayor Walsh.
What do you say? A show of my hand for yours? ”
He held my gaze intently, looking like he was about ready to rip my head off in front of his own son, but then his eyes rose to look beyond me, his smile creeping into place and making me scowl.
I was too focused on him.
On watching the smile I wanted to twist in my grip and rip from his face.
I was too lost in winning.
The sound of the engine roaring to life behind us didn’t register until it was too late.
“Shit!” Jedd cried, and when I turned around to see what the fuck was going on, I saw Owen making his escape.
The rat on the run.
He was getting away, and with one look in Jedd’s eyes, I knew he knew what the hell was going on now.
The world seemed to move in slow motion as I leaned forward, used all the power I had within me to yell at my men. “No! Fuck. Stop that motherfucker. Stop him now!”