My stomach lurches, but I battle down the urge to get sick by focusing on my anger. I hated my father for being a coward and killing himself, leaving us with everything on our shoulders. Hated him for leaving my brothers without a father. Hated him for hurting us all so soon after my sister’s death. I’d grieved enough, so hating him was easier.
But he never deserved my hate.
Now it’s all focused on a man who deserves a worse fate.
Sledge walks in with a grim expression, and Drex’s arms tighten around my waist.
“Marshall’s place was empty. Looks like he’s skipped out at some point. I’m trying to be discreet in finding him. Don’t want him knowing we’re onto him. But he hasn’t been to work in a couple of weeks… Took some overdue vacation time, according to some of the others. Sounds like he’s getting paranoid. I was hoping he’d be overconfident.”
“He probably has a safe house somewhere and is lying low.” Rush flips off the screen. They’ve been reading all Sarah gave us for hours… Since I handed them the drive and took Drex up on his offer for bloodshed.
“Is Colleen okay?” I ask Sledge, remembering them saying a little while ago that he was at the hospital checking in on her.
He nods once. “She’s out of surgery and in recovery. Bunch of our guys are there looking after her, including Drake. She’s tougher than she looks. Just wish I knew why she called Sarah instead of us. The cops are asking questions, but we have… our lawyers—fucking unbelievable—handling it.”
I wondered about why she called Sarah too, and still think she knew like I knew people would die if the guys charged in.
“Who you got tracking his shit? Make sure it’s someone better than who did the background on Marks—I mean, on Eve’s father. Find someone who can find the rabbit holes he’s hiding so we can locate him,” Drex tells Rush, moving back to the topic at hand and clearing his throat when I tense in his arms.
“We don’t have anyone that skilled. Maybe Eve could call Sarah and get her to help us, using her hacker.”
Snake slams his fist on the table, startling me. Drex narrows his eyes at him in warning, but Snake just glares back.
“Fuck her. We’re not calling her. We’re not trusting her to help us. This is our problem. He fucked with us, he made us look like fools, and now he’s a possible threat to Drex’s girl and our club. We find him. Not that fucking poser. And stop calling her Sarah. It’s not her name.”
Anger rises inside me, and my neck cracks to the side. “She saved my life,” I say quietly, causing some of the fury in Snake’s face to ebb. “She saved more than my life, Snake. She saved my sanity. I don’t care if you trust her. I do trust her. I watched her kill two men who were going to do far worse to me, and she’s staying in town to make sure you’re safe.”
He blows out a breath and looks away. “I don’t fucking want her here. We’re doing this for you, Eve. We’re doing this for us. AJ isn’t a part of us. No one here has the right to expect me to let her be involved. Not even you.”
He stands, scraping his chair across the floor, and he stalks out like he can’t get away from this conversation fast enough.
“So do we call her or not?” Rush asks.
“Not,” Drex, Axle, and Dash say in unison.
It pisses me off, but I understand why they’re siding with Snake over her. He’s had their back for years, probably saved their lives a few times. My loyalty is with Drex and Sarah. And Axle too. They’ve saved me. I’ll always side with Sarah over Snake because I wouldn’t be here without her. I owe her. Maybe I’ll get to repay the favor one day.
“Our best bet would be to lure him out,” Rush goes on, making me think I’ve tuned out part of the conversation.
Something buzzes underneath me, and I startle again. But Drex holds me to him. It takes a second to realize it’s his phone buzzing.
“Having a sharpshooter on our team wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Rush mumbles.
“Thought you didn’t trust her,” Axle says, cocking an eyebrow at him.
“That was before we found our fed link to this shit. Sarah is a fucking sniper, dude. She has a hacker at her disposal—one we don’t know. A hacker who can find shit that has been hidden. We don’t have that sort of intel. She could be helpful.”
I purposely withheld Bentley’s name from them, as Sarah requested and trusted me to do. I also left out the part where I missed him with three shots when he was less than five feet away. And blind.
How does a blind man hack? There’s a riddle to solve.
“Snake said no,” Drex points out.
“And Snake calls the shots now?”
“He’s part of this circle, and we owe it to him to let him call the shots on this particular thing,” Sledge says in agreement.
Drex’s phone buzzes again, and he curses while pulling it out, shifting me enough to get it fully released from his pocket.
“Yeah,” he snaps without looking at the number. His eyes change and he clears his throat. “Yeah,” he says softer. “She’s right here.”
He hands the phone to me, and I stand. Reluctantly, Drex lets me move to the corner of the room.
“Hello?”
“Eve, honey, I’ve been trying to reach you,” Mom says over the phone.
I exhale heavily and spare her the grave details of my new life. She’s been through enough because of my attempt to help.
“Sorry. My phone was broken today. How’s the new home?”
She sighs, but it doesn’t sound weary. “It’s actually lovely. The boys love the creek behind the house. They’re adjusting nicely and quickly. I actually think they needed this change, and if I’m really being honest, so did I. Our house was haunted with memories of your sister. I never want to forget her, but it hurts too much to walk by her room every day and expect her to walk out… Or slam her door in my face after informing me of how I’m ruining her life for not letting her blast her music.”
A sad bit of laughter escapes me, and Mom sighs again.
“Are you okay, honey? It’s you I’m worried about. Why don’t you come out here with us?”
My eyes drift over to Drex, catching his gaze on me, but he slowly turns away and tries to focus on the other conversation in the room.
“Eve? Did you hear me? Why don’t you join us?”
Because Drex is here. Because I’m not the same person. Because I’m selfish and want to stay. Because I’d be miserable anywhere else.
Because I’m different now.
Because I’m where I belong.
None of those answers would be a good idea.
“I’ll visit as often as I can when it’s safe,” I tell her instead. “I’m sorry I dragged you into all of this.”
“I’m sorry you were so desperate to help me that you’re stuck somewhere with those men now. Honey, this is insane. It’s not right. I’m your mother, and I feel like I failed you. I shouldn’t have burdened you so much with problems meant for me to handle.”
“None of this was ever your fault, Mom. I was naïve enough to think this would only ever effect me.” Taking a deep breath, I decide to shift the conversation back to the happier thoughts. “So you like it, yeah? The town, the home, the creek?”
“It’s incredible. The people are so nice. The boys have already made friends with neighbors and such. With all the extra money we got from selling the house and the leftover money from… from what you did… Well, I’m taking some time before finding a job. There’s no rush at the moment. That man said the house was owned by him and refuses to accept rent, so that’s one bill I don’t have to worry about. It gives me a lot of extra money.”
That man is Drex, I want to say, but I’m more focused on something else she just said.
My brow furrows, but I don’t say anything aloud. My eyes land on Drex again. Obviously the Colorado home is his, but... Our house hasn’t sold. It hasn’t even had one offer.
“That’s great, Mom. Really.”
“It’s nice to be able to spend time with the boys and just enjoy life a little. But it’s hard to enjoy knowing what you’re sacrificing to give us this.”
“Don’t let that hold you back, Mom. I’m happy. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here.”
Drex’s shoulders stiffen, letting me know he’s only listening to my conversation.
“You’re sure? With… them?”
“Very sure, Mom. I promise. Enjoy your time off from work, and live a little. Enjoy the boys. Be with them. Love them. Have fun with them. Life is short.”
“I love you, honey. Call me when you can.”
“I will. Make sure you’re not calling anyone. You got rid of you old phone, right?”
“Yes. I’m following all the rules. Just like that man told me to do. I haven’t contacted anyone at all from home, other than you. I never even called my old boss or your uncle back. They left messages the day we moved, and I forgot to call either of them before we left town. But I’ve refrained.”
It takes a second for her words to sink in, but when they do, my entire body goes cold.