Resisting Ryder(55)
“I don’t want to freak you out,” he said. “But I got confirmation that it was definitely one of my guys that killed Jett.”
Stormy shook her head. “Why?”
“That’s what I’m still trying to figure out,” he said. “I think the person that did it, did it only to hurt me.”
“Do you have any idea who it might be?”
Ryder paused before saying, “I think it might be Zander.”
“What?!”
“I don’t want to believe it, but he knows me better than anyone, and he’s one of only a few guys who know I ever had a brother,” he said. “We both joined Hellfire at the same time, and I rose to the top of the ranks almost overnight. He was nothing more than a patch member until I vouched for him and got him up there with me. Made him my secretary. I think he’s always resented being under me.”
“That’s ridiculous,” she said. “That’s not a good reason to kill someone’s brother.”
“We’d always talked about getting out of the gang,” he said. “I told him the only way I’d ever leave Hellfire was if someone I loved and cared about got hurt or killed. He knew my brother was the only person I truly loved.”
“Even though you weren’t talking?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “My brother was the only real family I had, even if we weren’t speaking. Zander knew that.”
“That son of a bitch just fucked my best friend,” Stormy said as she turned to run back inside.
“Stop!” he yelled as he chased after her and grabbed her arm. “You don’t know any of this.”
“So I’m supposed to stand back and talk to him and act like nothing happened? Like he didn’t come into my house and murder my husband?” Stormy was livid.
“For now,” he said. “You just have to trust that I’ll handle this.”
“I guess,” she said with her arms crossed.
“There’s one other thing,” he said. “We’re going to need Brooklyn to get involved.”
“Oh, no, no, no,” Stormy said. “She would never.”
“There’s no way you can talk her into it?” he asked.
“I can try, but she’s her own person,” she said. “What do you want her to do?”
“Keep him busy so that we can go through his room, for starters,” he said.
“So you want me to send my best friend off with some murderer so you can snoop through his room like some amateur detective?”
“It’s a start,” he said. “Got any better ideas?”
“Can’t you just ask him and see what he says?”
“I don’t want him to know we know,” he said.
“And what happens when you find the evidence you’re looking for?” she asked.
“You don’t want to know,” he said. “It’s better that you not know these kinds of things. You wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I told you.”
Stormy shuddered. The Hellfire MC was definitely on a completely different level than the Iron Souls.
They headed back inside the bar, Stormy’s heart beating fast, and they saw Zander and Brooklyn making out like crazy in the booth. She was straddling him and his hands were gripped tight on her ass.
It made Stormy instantly nauseous, and she tried to ignore the fact that the hands all over Brooklyn’s body were the same hands that had killed Jett.
“Remember, act natural,” Ryder reminded her. “Don’t ruin our only shot. If he knows we’re onto him, he’ll run. He’s chicken shit like that.”
“How am I going to get Brooklyn alone? She’s all over him,” Stormy said, concerned.
“I’ll get Zander away from her, don’t worry.”
They approached the booth and cleared their throats, and Zander and Brooklyn peeled themselves apart.
“What’s gotten into you guys?” Stormy teased.
“Zander, I need you, man,” Ryder said as he pointed towards the bar.
Zander begrudgingly scooted out from the booth and followed him over to the bar where the two men proceeded to start talking.
“Brooklyn, how drunk are you?” Stormy asked.
“Not that drunk. Honest,” she said. “Just on vacation and having a good time.”
“I have to tell you something,” Stormy said as she glanced over at the guys. “But you have to promise you won’t freak out or act weird.”
“Okay, what?” Brooklyn asked. “Now you’re making me nervous.”
“Ryder thinks that Zander killed Jett.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”