Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Z oe could not remember ever smiling so much in a single day. Before going to work that morning, Carlos had dropped Zoe and Kyle off at the clubhouse to spend the day with Jenna and some of the club kids. Zoe promised to make an effort to be social and she was going to try her hardest to keep her word.

Cage, one of the patched members, offered to drive them back to the Santiago house around dinner time. He borrowed a car seat from one of the ol’ ladies and packed Louisa, Zoe, and Kyle into his work truck. One of the other members wasn’t feeling well and Cage was running out to the store to buy them some crackers, soup, and the like; he was going to drop them off on his way. Zoe wasn’t sure if Carlos had had a chance to ask Cage about adding an additional bathroom to his house. She didn’t want to overstep or speak out of turn, so she did not inquire with Cage herself.

Additionally, Zoe wasn’t sure how to act around Louisa when Carlos wasn’t present. She was a stranger now living in the woman’s home. What did Louisa think of Zoe? She obviously knew that Zoe and Carlos hadn’t known each other very long. They were as much strangers as Louisa and Zoe. Yet, Zoe was now living in Carlos’s house and had moved into his bedroom. Did she think that Zoe was after Carlos’s house, his money? Using him for protection?

As they waved to Cage pulling out of the driveway, Louisa leaned over to Zoe and said, “Let’s give this one some screen time so you and I can talk.”

Zoe’s heart had nearly stopped at those words—but she shouldn’t have worried so much. Within minutes, Louisa had her laughing so hard with stories of Carlos’s childhood that she peed a little. The cookies Kyle and Louisa had made two days ago were on a plate in the middle of the table and they both had a cup of coffee. The sounds of Paw Patrol could be heard echoing from the living room over their laughter.

Louisa was doubled over laughing, holding onto the edge of the table for support. “I kid you not,” she finished up her story. “No hesitation, no questioning if he should do it… Just walked right up to that goat and plunged his finger in like he was taking its temperature.”

“Oh God, Momma! Not this story again!”

Zoe picked her head up, her smile so wide that her cheeks hurt, to see Carlos standing in the kitchen doorway. He wasn’t alone. Keys, the VDMC’s computer genius, was behind him, looking far too happy to have overheard the ending to Louisa’s story.

Despite his annoyed and a little embarrassed expression, Zoe’s heart did a little pitter-patter at the sight of him. He was still dressed in his uniform, though she did notice that his gun belt was off. She knew he had two gun safes in the house. She’d put her own handgun inside the one in their bedroom the day before. Technically, it was illegal for her to have the firearm—but what was one more law broken?

Keys pulled out his phone from his front pocket. “I am so texting the guys about the time you stuck your finger up a goat’s ass.”

“Do and I’ll tell them about the non-research related golden showers porn I just caught you watching,” Carlos said with a bit of a growl in his voice.

Keys stopped texting mid-type. “Ew, I don’t watch golden shower porn!”

Carlos raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, but who are they going to believe more? After all, it’s always the quiet ones you have to watch out for.” With a grin that resembled that of an evil mastermind, Carlos walked the rest of the way into the kitchen. He leaned down and kissed Zoe. “Missed you,” he murmured against her lips.

“Missed you too,” she admitted. Their relationship was so new that her statement shouldn’t have been true. But it was. They’d spent most of the day before together furniture shopping with Kyle and then had a wonderful time exploring each other’s bodies in the night. This was their first day separated since she’d moved in.

Carlos turned his head, still leaning over Zoe, to look at his mom. “Really? The goat story?”

She smiled adoringly at him. “I thought she should be aware in case you get any future pets.” Louisa’s voice was so innocent that an unexpected laugh escaped Zoe as Carlos bowed his head.

Zoe reached up and pulled Carlos’s head down to her chest, cradling him. “Don’t worry. I’ll protect all future pets,” she told Louisa.

Keys still looked like he was debating on sending that text message, regardless of the backlash on his reputation. As Carlos went to his knees to fully embrace her cuddle, Zoe saw Keys shrug to himself and then continue the text message. When he looked up and saw she was watching him, he just smiled and put a finger to his lips.

“Save me,” Carlos moaned against her, though she was positive he hadn’t seen Keys send the text message.

Zoe brushed her fingers through his hair. “From your mom or the goats?”

Teasing a lover was new to her. The words had come out of her mouth as a reflex to the light mood in the room. Immediately, though, fear started to creep into her mind. Carlos was clearly embarrassed by the story his mom had told her. Though a cute, funny story of a four-year-old boy with a curious mind on a school field trip to a farm, she could understand how a grown man would not want that story told to his new girlfriend—the same girlfriend he’d opened up to and admitted to enjoying anal stimulation during sex.

It was clearly not the same thing. One was the act of a child and the other an adult, but Zoe wondered if Carlos was feeling out of sorts about what they’d shared again the night before. It had been hot and steamy and Zoe desperately wanted to continue, having awoken something sexy and wild inside of herself that she hadn’t even known existed.

Joining in on his mom’s teasing, though… She couldn’t help but feel a pang of concern that Carlos would get angry at her. That he would not appreciate her laughing at him.

The memory of Davis’s first backslap across her face made Zoe stiffen and quake in her seat.

Carlos must have felt her reaction. He sat up quickly, all mirth and embarrassment gone from his expression. When he reached for her face, it was slow. He moved with caution. “What is it, sunshine?”

As his hand touched her cheek, so gentle and comforting, Zoe realized how foolish she’d been. Her reaction had come from experience, yes, but it was not warranted here. Carlos was not Davis. If she thought for a moment that there was an ounce of similarity between the two men, she never would have left the safety of the club’s property. She would never allow Carlos within a mile of her son, let alone move him into his house.

Shame rolled through her. Carlos would never hit her, no matter how angry he got. Which, she realized now, he never had been. He’d played along with his mom’s story in spite of the humiliation it brought him.

Davis would never have laughed at himself. If someone ruined the perfect image he’d constructed of himself, Davis would have destroyed that person. Not in a literal sense, but their reputation, their name, would suddenly be so ruined that no one would ever want to be associated with them again.

Carlos had not scolded his mom. He’d gone to Zoe as if seeking her protection, which was hilarious in and of itself. Zoe was small in comparison to his large build and height.

Carlos didn’t hesitate to show what others would perceive as weakness. Which, in turn, showed his true strength.

Zoe laid her hand over his on her face. She turned her cheek, allowing his hand to cradle her more. “Memories,” she answered him. “But they can’t hurt me now.”

He smiled proudly up at her, still on his knees on the kitchen floor. “I can’t shield you from memories, sunshine, but I can give you new ones so full of happiness that they chase away the bad ones.”

She leaned down and gently pressed her lips to his. “Thank you,” she whispered, leaning her forehead against his.

Zoe had forgotten about their audience until she heard something being placed on the kitchen table. She looked over to see Keys putting a backpack down. He gave her an encouraging smile as he reached for a cookie.

“Mom, do you think you could go sit with Kyle for a little bit?” Carlos hadn’t moved from the floor. He still had a tight hold on Zoe, like he somehow knew she needed his silent strength.

Without argument or fuss, Louisa went out into the living room. Zoe had learned earlier in the day that she was a two-time breast cancer survivor. It was why she wore a scarf on her head. After two rounds of chemotherapy, her hair had not returned healthily or evenly. She continued to shave her head bald and wore wigs or scarves, depending on the occasion.

Keys opened his bag and pulled out a laptop. “You might want to leave the room too, Carlos. We’re not exactly going to be talking about anything legal.”

Carlos pulled out the seat next to Zoe. “I’m staying. I left my badge at the door for a reason. Besides, we need to discuss my visitor this morning.”

Keys looked to Zoe, who nodded. She trusted Carlos. She wouldn’t have moved in with him if she didn’t. However, she did ask, “What visitor?”

Carlos turned to Zoe. “How well did you know Conner? You told me that he rescued you from the courthouse and informed you about the hitmen your in-laws hired. How did he know about any of them? How did he get you out of there and to Montana without anyone seeing him or suspecting a thing?”

Zoe swallowed nervously, trying to push past the ache in her heart for her deceased friend. She’d left out specific parts of her story, not wanting to break Conner’s confidence. “He brought me to Montana in an RV. About three days later, he brought Kyle to me. We had to travel separately.”

She didn’t miss the look passed between Carlos and Keys. They had picked up on her evasiveness. She was not a very good liar. She didn’t know why they were asking about Conner. She wasn’t even sure how much she should say about the people she’d been with in Montana. In truth, she’d been so filled with grief over Conner’s death when she’d left Montana, she’d forgotten to ask those specifics. Obviously, it couldn’t be common knowledge that there was a mountain in Montana where innocent fugitives and the like were brought for safekeeping.

“Why are you asking about Conner?” Her voice cracked on his name.

Again, Keys and Carlos shared a look. She felt like she was missing something important. Carlos explained, “I had a visitor in my office this morning. He… Well, he looked a lot like Conner. But it couldn’t be?—”

“Owen?” Then realizing what she’d said, Zoe slapped her hands over her mouth in a horrified gasp. As Carlos and Keys stared at her in astonishment, Zoe clamped her eyes closed. She bowed her head in shame. She really was the worst liar! How could she have just spat out his name like that? After she’d sworn never to reveal his secret?

Zoe blinked. Wait. Owen had revealed his secret. He knew that his twin was dead. Actually dead, not dead like Owen was dead. Why would Owen return to a town where people would recognize him? Conner had sent her and Kyle here because he knew that the MC could be trusted—but Owen hadn’t gone to the MC. He’d gone to Carlos , a cop.

She spun around towards Carlos. “Are you okay? Did he threaten you? Was he warning you away from me?” If there was one thing she’d picked up on from her short time with Owen, it was that he was dangerous.

Not to her or to Kyle. He’d protected her so completely that he’d been a danger to those who wanted to harm her , not the other way around.

“Well, that answers some of my questions,” Keys finally said with a chuckle. “Conner’s twin is alive. He faked his own death while he was in the service. Do you know why?”

Zoe was grateful she didn’t have to lie or try to evade answering that one. She shook her head. “No.”

“So it was Owen , not Conner, you were in contact with in Philadelphia?—”

“No,” Zoe interrupted Keys. She dropped her head back down into her hands again. Carlos’s hand came up to rub soothingly along her back. Zoe tried to center herself and raised her head. She couldn’t have them thinking she’d never known Conner. He’d been her friend, her savior. She would not have his heroic actions transferred over for Owen to take the credit.

Zoe took a deep, shaking breath. “I knew Conner. He was my friend. He rescued me and my son. I didn’t know Owen was alive until after the courthouse. That was Owen, but only because Conner couldn’t get emergency leave to come to me himself. He sent Owen to me. But I only saw Owen that one time and never again. It was Conner who visited me in Montana. Conner was,” her voice cracked on the past tense word, “my friend.”

Carlos’s hand continued to make soothing circles on her back. With his other hand, he reached over to take her trembling ones clasped together on the table. “If it wasn’t Owen that you were friends with, though, why would he risk coming here with people who would recognize him to deliver a message that easily could have been left anonymously?”

Keys shrugged. “I don’t have that answer. But at least we know that Lionheart didn’t fake his death and betray us.”

“Lionheart?” Zoe inquired.

“When Conner died, he was a prospect,” Keys explained. “However, Bear pushed to have him buried in full colors, as a patched member. We gave him the road name ‘Lionheart’ to honor the sacrifice he made. I’m not sure if you know this, but he died saving Harper’s life, and the life of her unborn son, though she hadn’t known she was pregnant at the time.”

Zoe had to blink away tears. “No, I didn’t know that. Steel had told me he died honorably, but I didn’t know about Harper. Is that why her son’s name is Conner?”

Keys nodded. “She wanted to honor him in her own way.”

Zoe felt a tear escape the corner of her eye and quickly wiped it away. “That’s very sweet of her. He was my hero too.”

“I’ve been in contact with the people you were with in Montana.”

Zoe’s eyes widened at Keys’ words. “You have?”

Keys nodded. “I’ve known about the Mountain Mutineers for some time. That’s what they call themselves, by the way. It’s not that big of a stretch to suggest that Owen works for them. There aren’t many of us in the world who can do what I do, but they have a hacker among them that is nearly to my level. Because of that, they’ve been on my radar but I’ve never had reason to reach out to them before.”

Zoe was beyond impressed. She had never asked about the mysterious calculator app that had appeared on her phone or how Owen had known that Davis had been watching her on the camera planted inside her house. Anything more technologically challenging than downloading an app had always been out of her wheelhouse.

Creating fake identities was certainly not something she ever thought she’d need to know either.

“The identity of Clara Everwood is solid. The Mutineers have kept up appearances on it to make it seem like it’s an active identity.” Keys turned his laptop around to show her the screen. “They’ve even been updating your Facebook account.”

Zoe looked closer. A woman that could have been her—same height and body type—was standing by a waterfall with the caption Another great hike today . The hat and sunglasses made it hard to see the woman’s face fully.

Keys turned the computer back around. “You can live your life as Clara Everwood. There’s nothing stopping you. We can even make it official and hire movers to make it look like you moved to Mount Grove recently.”

“You say that as if she has another option?” Carlos stated, taking Zoe’s hand on the table. She hadn’t realized her hand had been shaking until he took it and laced their fingers together.

Zoe looked down. The grip was somehow reassuring. From anyone else, it might have seemed controlling…but not from Carlos. She raised her head and saw he wasn’t even looking at her. Like he’d subconsciously known she’d needed his steadying grip.

“Well, I looked into what happened in Philadelphia,” Keys went on. “Zoe Rutterson is a wanted fugitive. There’s no getting around that. The Mutineers did an excellent job of corrupting your DNA and trading out your fingerprint samples. Unless they’re run again, no one will know the difference. Zoe Rutterson can’t live in Mount Grove. However, you don’t have to be Clara Everwood either.”

“Who would I be then?” she asked. “I want to—” She glanced to Carlos. “I want to start living again. Kyle deserves to have a life, a real one. He needs to go to school and have friends.”

“I don’t know what you know of Bulldog and Abby’s history,” Keys said softly. “I was able to backdate a marriage for them. As far as the government is concerned, they’ve been married for years and Bulldog fathered her two youngest children. ‘Abigail Knight’ couldn’t exist anymore so I made it so she never existed.

“I can do something similar with you and Kyle. It won’t be as clean cut or perfect, due to the publicity and the federal warrant out for your arrest. But I can tweak it so no one believes Zoe and Davis Junior are still alive. Hell, I know some people who might even have some extra bodies lying around we can use to at least fake your death more thoroughly.”

Zoe’s jaw dropped. Keys made it sound like he could do all of this with a click of a button. And bodies? Where did people get ‘extra bodies’ from?

“I can make you be Zoe again,” Keys told her. “No more hiding, no more running. The question I have for the two of you, though, is what sort of history do you want? Kyle is the only…issue,” he hedged. “Because he has living relatives. If his DNA is run against theirs, there isn’t anything I can do. As good as I am, I can’t hack actual DNA. However, I can make it look like there’s no reason to ever test his DNA. If we give the two of you a thorough enough backstory, why would anyone question it?”

“I don’t understand.” Zoe’s eyes glanced between the living room where she could hear the tv, Carlos, Keys, and back to the living room. “What history are you referring to? You said ‘the two of you’ like you meant Carlos and I, but Carlos doesn’t have to fake an identity or anything.”

“Not an identity, no, but it will make yours a stronger one if I backdate a marriage between the two of you and a birth history for Kyle that claims he’s Carlos’s son.”

Zoe felt like the floor had just dropped out from under her chair. Marriage? Keys wanted to marry her and Carlos?

They’d only been on one date. They’d only had sex twice. They weren’t… She wasn’t… No. Zoe’s head snapped around towards Carlos’s—and she felt her stomach start to sink. She could see it. In his eyes. He wanted this.

Zoe pulled her hand out of his grip.

She shook her head. “No, I…” She stood up, her entire body was shaking. “I can’t… I don’t…”

Carlos stood up too. He walked around to her other side to face her. “Hey, sunshine, hey, easy. Look at me please. Deep breaths… In, out… Good. Again. In, out… There you go.”

Zoe’s breathing became more controlled as she followed his commands. She liked how he was running his hands up and down her arms. Zoe shook her head and mouthed, “I’m sorry.”

He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Nothing to be sorry about. Keys was only proposing on my behalf. It’s not a real proposal unless you see me down on one knee, okay?”

“But you want it,” she said out loud. “You want to get married.”

“Not today,” he insisted. She wasn’t sure she believed him. “Zoe, unlike my brother, I haven’t been in love with you since I was six years old. You’ve heard the term ‘high school sweethearts’? Well, they were kindergarten sweethearts. There hasn’t been a day since they met as kindergarteners that my brother hasn’t known he’s wanted to marry Abby.”

Zoe hadn’t known that—only that they’d been dating as teenagers before Abby had moved away.

“So it is completely reasonable and not at all out of character for my brother to marry Abby after only reuniting with her for a couple of days. But you and me? We’re different. We have feelings for each other, sure, but I am not ready to marry you or to claim Kyle as my son. We , you and me, are not ready for that. Even if it is just legal and never mentioned again, the implications will always be there. We’ll always know the difference and I’m not willing for us to ruin what I think is a pretty fantastic start to a new relationship just to claim we’re married.”

Zoe felt her racing heartbeat start to slow. His words were so sincere, so Carlos , that it helped calm her.

“Davis…my husband,” she added, because she hated to say his name. “He changed after we got married. It was like he was a completely different man. All he cared about was making a son and how we looked to the outside world. Perfect life, perfect family, perfect home… Everything had to be just so. He,” her voice cracked, “he only started hitting me after we got married. If he’d done it before… Well, I’d like to think I’d have left him…” Zoe let her voice trail off.

There had been no leaving Davis Rutterson. Not before their wedding and certainly not after.

Her eyes flitted up to Carlos and then back down to her feet. “I don’t think that’s you. I know you wouldn’t… I know that ,” she stressed, “but the idea of marriage… It’s terrifying.”

Carlos helped guide her back down to her seat. She finally was able to meet and hold his eyes when he knelt in front of her. “Two knees,” he pointed out. “Not proposing.”

Zoe let out a choked sob. But it worked—he got her to smile.

“Zoe, sunshine, I hate what you suffered through. You have the most beautiful soul and to think that some fool tried to quash that? Well, it makes me wish he was still alive so I could kill him myself.” Zoe’s eyes widened at his words. “Violence aside,” Carlos added pointedly, “I want you to live . I want you to thrive . Yes, you moved in here with me. I loved coming home to the sound of your laughter today. If I thought for a second you weren’t happy here or I couldn’t make you happy here, I would have left you on the club’s property and dated you properly.”

“Really?”

His nod was earnest. “Really, really,” he said with a crooked smile.

Zoe turned to Keys, who was so enthralled by whatever he was doing on his computer that she had to wonder if he’d even heard anything of their conversation or her panic attack. “Keys?” she asked to get his attention.

“Huh?” He looked up, almost startled to see them. “Oh right. So I have an alternate solution. We can fake your marriage, but we kill off your husband.”

Zoe was confused, because wasn’t that already the truth? “What?”

Carlos moved around to retake his seat and Zoe scooted on her chair to face forward again.

“No one outside of the club except Carlos knew about you being on property. The story given to him was that you were Jenna’s widowed niece.” Keys tapped his screen. “Jenna does have a sister—or did. She died about fifteen years ago. It says she didn’t have any kids, but I can easily change that. Make it look like you came to live with Steel and Jenna as a teen after your mom died. Then you left, went to college, got married, had a kid, and then your husband died. Giving you the tie to Jenna is probably more realistic than Carlos keeping a wife hidden away from the town for the past four-ish years. Jenna and Steel only moved to town six years ago when the club was formed.”

Keys started typing as he talked. His fingers moved so fast across the screen Zoe got dizzy from watching them and had to look away. Suddenly, he slammed his computer closed. Zoe jumped, startled. Keys grabbed his bag, shoving his laptop inside, and practically ran out the door. A second later, the door opened back up and a flustered Keys returned. “Gotta go, but I’ll work on this. Bye.”

And then he left again.

“Is that normal behavior for him?” Zoe asked Carlos. She really didn’t know Keys all that well.

Carlos shrugged. “It’s not surprising behavior,” he said offhandedly.

“So what now?” she asked. “We didn’t really get any answers.”

“Well, now,” Carlos turned her face towards him, “I kiss you and give you a proper greeting after being away from you all afternoon.”

She smiled and leaned into his kiss.

“How about you, Kyle, and I go out for dinner?”

“What about your mom?”

“We can invite her, but I’d like to spend some time with Kyle. Get to know him. For now, we keep with the story that you’re Jenna’s niece if asked.” He moved a strand of her hair out of her face. “What are you in the mood for?”

Zoe didn’t have to think about it. “Pizza?”

“Pizza it is.”