Outlaw's Promise(51)

I gave him my coldest stare.. “I got nothing to say to you.”

“It’s Agent Trent, by the way. But you can call me Marcus.” He looked over his shoulder. In the distance, we could still see the smoke rising from the smoldering remains of the warehouse. “Seems like you really pissed someone off.”

I sat back in the saddle and narrowed my eyes. The fire only started a few hours ago. How did the FBI hear about it so fast? Sheriff Harris wouldn’t even have written up his report yet.

“Oh, we’ve been watching the Princes for some time,” Trent told me. “Waiting for the right opportunity. Then we heard you were making enquiries about Volos and that really got our attention.”

My jaw dropped. “You know about that psycho?”

Trent nodded. “And he’s not someone you want to piss off. He operates on a whole different level.” He sounded almost impressed. “You are way, way, way out of your depth, O’Harra.”

“But you’re going to bring him down?” My pulse was racing. I hated the idea of working with the feds, but if they could get Volos off our backs….

Trent threw back his head and laughed. “Oh, Jesus, no! Are you kidding? Volos is practically a legend. No one’s even gotten close to catching him. Half the FBI think he’s a myth. No, no, no.” He paused for effect. “I’m here for the guns, O’Harra. I want to put the Princes away for running guns: Mac, Ox, Hunter, all of them.”

I blinked at him. “What? Fuck you! I’m no rat.”

He grinned and folded his arms. “You haven’t heard what I’m offering.”

I leaned forward and twisted the throttle, revving the engine. I was ready to ride straight over him if he didn’t get out of the way. “I ain’t interested.” My foot went to kick the bike into gear—

“Annabelle.”

My foot missed its target and I clumsily rocked on the bike. I slowly looked up at him.

And then I killed the engine and the silence of the forest swelled up to surround us.

Trent stepped right up to my bike and put his hands on the handlebars, leaning in until our faces were only a few inches apart. “Volos is going to destroy your club. It’s a plaything to him, an amusement. He’s like a cat with a mouse. You’ll watch your friends die and then he’ll kill you and take Annabelle back. It’s just a matter of time. But if you were to help me...well, then I’d have to put you in witness protection. You and Annabelle. You’d testify and then disappear. Fresh new lives. Even Volos wouldn’t be able to find you and he wouldn’t be targeting the club anymore. Some of your friends would go to jail for a while but they’d live. And the Hell’s Princes would survive.”#p#分页标题#e#

I stared at him, unable to believe even a fed would stoop this low. Mac’s words came back to me: they always want something.

“I’m offering you a life,” said Trent. “You could leave it all behind, O’Harra. The killing, the violence—oh, I know what you do for the club. In a few months, you could be on the other side of the country with a new name and your girl by your side. All you’ve gotta do is give me the club.”

We stared at each other. Say something, I screamed inside. But I couldn’t find the words.

Trent smiled.

“Go fuck yourself,” I spat. But my voice was thick and hoarse. I started up my bike again.

Trent plucked a business card from his pocket, slid it into a pocket on my cut and tapped it meaningfully. Then he stepped back out of the way before I could run him down.

As I tore away, I was almost panting with rage. He thought I’d rat out the club? I’d heard of some pretty dirty deals from the feds in my time, but this was a new low. Volos sold women and this guy was prepared to practically side with him to get what he wanted. I should have punched him out. Hell, I should have shot him. I should have—

But as I sped around the next bend, I knew my anger wasn’t really at him. Feds are feds. Making dirty deals is what they do. I was pissed at myself. Because when he’d made the offer...I’d hesitated. I hadn’t been able to tell him to fuck off. Only for a few seconds, but when my loyalty to the club was being questioned, that was a fucking ice age.

I hadn’t been able to tell him to fuck off because a little part of me had been tempted.

A little part of me had seen an image of Annabelle in a summer dress, walking hand in hand with me. Happy. Safe. Together forfuckingever.

And I hadn’t been ready for how fucking hard that image tugged at me. Being able to look in her eyes and not see that fear there. Being able to set her free from this whole nightmare, permanently.