Chapter 26
“Were you speeding?”
Kat pulls to the side of the road, throws the car into park, and leans over me, yanking open the glove compartment.
“I’m Axel Donovan’s old lady. They probably scanned my plates and are looking to have a little fun.
They like to fuck with me sometimes. Got anything on you that might get us into trouble? ”
“No.” I just came out of a prison. I don’t even have my switchblade. “And fuck with you how?”
“You’ll see. Just… don’t give them any reason to pull their guns.”
I unbuckle my seat belt and inhale deeply. “Axe know about all this fucking with ?”
Kat’s hands shake a little as she rifles through her papers. “He was in jail for two years. He has enough to worry about. And I can handle myself.”
I glance at the cruiser parked behind us, my stomach rolling. But when Decker pushes out of the car, I breathe a sigh of relief. It’s short-lived, though, when Sergeant Bag of Dicks exits the passenger side.
Kat rolls down her window and hands over her licence and registration without being asked. “Problem, Officer Decker?”
He leans in, assessing me, then her. His jaw ticks. “Just be cool, all right? And keep your hands where we can see them.”
“Not my first rodeo, asshole,” Kat says.
“I’m serious, Kat. Let’s keep the attitude to a minimum, all right?” he says, attention slicing back to me.
The sergeant raps his knuckles on my window and motions for me to open it.
I hesitate, but the look Decker throws me has me quickly lowering the glass.
Sergeant Allen pokes his head in, his face so close to mine I recoil from the hot breath hitting my cheek. “Where you two coming from?”
“None of your business,” I snap.
Smiling, he rests his hand on his holster.
Kat clears her throat. “We’re just driving back from Central North.”
Right. Keep the attitude to a minimum. Don’t give him a reason to pull his gun.
From the way his fingers twitch, he seems to be itching to pull it despite there being no clear threat coming from us.
Just like the night I rolled into town. I have a bad feeling this is going to end the same way—a fresh bruise on my face and my hands in cuffs.
“Visiting the big brother,” Sergeant Allen says. “Cute. These windows are looking a little dark. This tint street legal?”
“Yes,” Kat says. “And South Bay PD has checked every window. Thoroughly.”
“Any drugs? Weapons?”
I peek over at Decker, who looks like he’s trying to burn a hole in Sergeant Allen’s face.
“No,” Kat says.
The asshole outside my window pulls back a little, focus dropping to just outside the passenger door. “You sure about that?” He bends over, and when he pushes back up, he’s holding a small bag of white powder. Cocaine.
“That’s not ours.” My pulse ratchets up quickly as I snap my focus to Kat.
Beside me, she grips the steering wheel until her knuckles are white, her lips pursed. “Don’t say anything.”
Keep quiet. Don’t speak. Keep your mouth shut until the lawyer shows up.
But this is fucking insane. A cop is literally planting evidence in front of us. The police don’t do this.
I glare at Decker, whose eyes are narrowed, looking between me and the bag as if he’s seriously trying to figure out if that’s mine.
“It’s not ours,” I say again.
“Right,” the sergeant says. “I’m gonna assume you ditched it when you saw the lights.
Next time do yourself a favour and throw it a little farther.
” He chuckles. “Or maybe swallow it. If it explodes on its way down and stops your heart, then you’d be doing everyone a favour.
One less biker whore on the streets.” That hand on his weapon again. “Step out of the car. Both of you.”
He yanks open the door and roughly tugs me out. I don’t fight him, but without meaning to, I’m pulling away at the tight, bruising grip he’s got on my arm as he yanks me around the car and then practically throws me back against it.
I’m flipped around quickly. Handcuffs ratchet closed around my wrists. Kat’s already handcuffed, Decker silent and stone-faced.
“Reasonable cause, wouldn’t you say, Officer Decker?” Allen says. “Let’s get the whores in the car and search the trunk.”
Decker’s eyes are locked on my arm, where the sergeant is still holding me. “Get your fucking hands off her.”
Allen pauses, his grip tightening. “The fuck did you just say to me?”
“Your hands,” he says, voice dropping dangerously. He takes a long breath, then says, “You bruise her up again, and that lawyer bitch will make sure none of this sticks. So I’ll say it again. Get your fucking hands off her. Now.”
For a long moment, the sergeant’s grip remains near unbearable. Maybe Decker notices, because he takes a threatening step forward.
I grit my teeth, not letting the pain show, and swallow the whimper lodged in my throat. Never let ’em see you sweat, kid. You let ’em rattle you, you let ’em win.
“Gold star, Decker,” Allen says as he tosses me forward.
Decker catches me, one warm hand finding the small of my back and the other gently gripping my upper arm. With his thumb, he rubs the skin there, easing the throb of the bruise that’s already forming.
“Get the She-Donovan secured,” Allen barks as he leans inside Kat’s car and pops the trunk.
Decker pauses a beat, suspicion marring his face, attention on Allen as the asshole rifles through the trunk.
“Bad girls,” Allen says as he holds up another bag of drugs. This one much bigger.
My stomach drops. Shit. Shit. That’s… that’s a lot of coke.
Decker tenses. “Sergeant?—”
“I said get the slut in the car, Decker.” Allen turns and speaks into his radio. Then he grabs Kat and yanks her towards the cruiser. “Can release the other bitch when we get to the station.”
Decker tilts his head. “You… don’t want to charge them both?”
“Grace had nothing to do with this,” Kat blurts.
“You admitting to something?” Allen asks.
Kat clamps her lips shut, wincing as Allen twists her arm at an uncomfortable angle.
“I don’t need the sister.” Smirking, Allen yanks open the door and tosses Kat inside. “Not when I’ve got his queen.”
“It’s not ours,” I say to Decker, voice low. “I swear.”
He lets out a frustrated breath. “I know. I’ll fix this.”
“How?”
“No fucking idea. But I will. There’s a way out of this, Grace. There’s always a way out.”
After we’re both secured in the back seat, Decker drives towards the station downtown. Every minute or so, his attention snaps to the rearview mirror, his eyes locking with mine. I can’t decipher his thoughts, but I can feel the rage coming from the front seat.
“That’s an indictable offence, Danforth.” Allen chuckles. “What do think she’ll get, Decker? First time offence will grant her a little leniency, but spreading her legs for that Sinner scum bag boyfriend of hers won’t do her any favours. I’m thinking… five years.”
Decker angles his head left, then right, as if trying to relieve the tension coiling around his muscles. “Two,” he grunts. “Unless the judge wants to make an example out of her.”
Allen laughs. “An example will be made.” He twists around and smiles, eyes on Kat. “It’s a damn shame. You’re a pretty one. Soiled and used-up. But pretty.”
Kat says nothing. Her eyes focused ahead, face emotionless.
“Such a sad story, isn’t it? Just as you’ve been reunited with that cockroach, you’re ripped away again.”
This time, Kat’s throat bobs in response.
I shuffle closer to her and settle my knee against hers, offering silent support.
“You can change your story, though,” Allen continues. “Flip on Donovan. Help me put the cuffs on him , and you can skip the jail time. You can breathe fresh air while he rots in a cell.”
Kat scoffs. “Fuck you, pig.”
“Have it your way.” He shifts forward again. “What comes next won’t be easy. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Breath stalling, I find Decker’s eyes in the mirror.
What comes next sure as hell better not be what I was subjected to in that cell my first night in town.
Like I told Decker, not a single Sinner woman will be left alone in a cell with these assholes.
I will burn that fucking station to the ground before I let that happen.
Once we’re parked, Sergeant Allen hauls Kat inside while Decker releases me. He shuffles close, voice dropping almost to a whisper, hand finding my hip and squeezing. “You good?”
“I’m fine. What’s gonna happen to Kat?”
“I won’t let anything happen to her.” He presses my purse to my chest. “Call Triss and tell her what’s up. I’ll have Miller drive you back to my place. And lock the door. Something’s off. Allen is too… chipper. He’s planning something.”
I nod and let out a shaky breath. I almost kiss him. Almost. It feels like a reflex. Casual. Like it’s a habit. Like it wouldn’t get him in a world of trouble if I pushed up on my toes and planted my lips on his in the middle of the South Bay PD parking lot.
Instead, I take a step back and call Triss, who’s in the car by the time she hangs up on me. Then I jump into another cruiser and let Jake Miller drive me back to Linc’s house.
I pace his kitchen. I watch two hours of Netflix.
I lock and unlock my phone, waiting for a text, an update from Triss.
It’s just after nine, and I’m about to raid Decker’s beer stash and some suspect leftovers in a glass container at the back of the fridge when my phone vibrates. A number I don’t recognize.
“Hello?”
A low chuckle crackles in my ear. “Hello, Gracie.”
When I don’t recognize the masculine voice, I go still. “Who is this?”
Another laugh. “So you’re a fuckin’ Sinner. That why you killed him? Did they send you?”