Chapter 26 - Ares

26

Ares

Wastelanders are efficient at crime scene clean-up. Aaron Flores is loaded into the trunk of his own patrol car, then the whole thing is covered with a tarp and hitched to the tow-truck. It takes only minutes, and then I’m standing at the edge of the clearing, watching the evidence of his murder literally disappear down the road. The car and body will disappear too, somewhere, and I don’t much care where. The only thing I care about is that none of this comes back on Delaney.

“Hey.” A hand claps down on my shoulder and my instincts kick in, jerking it off and whipping around to see Reaper stepping back, hands raised. “Just me, brother. You good?”

“Yeah,” I grunt back, then shake my head. “No.”

Reaper’s eyes flick to my hand. “Let’s get back to the clubhouse. Get someone to look at that hand.”

I nod mechanically and follow Reaper to the plumber’s van. I climb into the back and settle with my back against the shell, the heat of the day warming me through the metal. Reaper slides into the front and I catch him checking his phone.

“How much shit am I in with Griff?”

Reaper chuckles as he shoves his phone away and starts the engine. “Forget about Griff. The real question is, how much shit are you in with the girl?”

I shrug, but my jaw clenches. Even hearing another brother talking about Delaney sends a flare of fierce protectiveness through me. It was hard enough letting her go off on the back of Rev’s bike.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I reply.

Reaper makes the turn onto the main road. From my position in the back, all I see is blue sky through the windshield.

Reaper sighs. “Look, I don’t need to know what happened between the two of you out here—”

“Then don’t ask.”

“But Flores going missing is going to make things worse for her. For all of us. I need to know everything so we can deal with what’s coming.”

What’s coming… The words echo in my ears, taunting me. Because he’s right: this shit storm is about to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. I don’t care about myself, I just need Delaney to make it out alive.

***

The war room at Wastelander HQ smells like antiseptic and the tequila I just downed. There’s a pained wince plastered on Sade’s delicate features, like she’s the one who just had her hand blown to fucking bits.

“This is bad,” she murmurs, wrapping my hand in fresh gauze. Shockwaves of pain spike up my arm, even though she’s trying to be as gentle as possible. “You probably need surgery. I don’t think this is going to do much except stem the bleeding.”

Behind her, Reaper lays a hand on her shoulder. “I know, baby girl. But you’ve patched me up when I’ve been worse than this. You’re doing great.”

“Worse than a bullet hole in the hand?” she snorts. “I know you’re tough, Wyatt, but come on.” She rolls her eyes and Reaper’s mouth twitches, amused, before settling into a hard line.

“Sadie,” he growls warningly. Her cheeks pinken and she busies herself with my bandage.

As Reaper moves to the door of the war room, keeping watch down the hall, Sadie meets my eyes and winks playfully. Somehow, this sweetheart of a girl has the enforcer of the Wastelanders, a professional killer, wrapped around her little finger. Have to admit, it’s kind of impressive.

“How’s Delaney holding up?” Sadie asks after a moment.

I’m not sure how to answer that, so I pick my words carefully. “She’s stronger than she looks.”

“Oh, I think she looks pretty strong,” Sadie replies, shrugging. “I run into her sometimes at the gas station or around town. We went to high school together. Not in the same grade, but it’s a small town, y’know?” Her eyes dart off, like she’s picturing Delaney right in front of her. “I’ve always had this thought. Like, ‘Wow, this bitch is tough as nails’. Like even when she’s just standing there. It’s like she carries it, y’know? This hardness around her.”

I blink. Who the fuck knew Reaper’s girl was so insightful. Sadie tucks the end of the gauze roll into the swath of bandages around my hand and pats my knee.

“Anyway, I think it’s a good thing, that she has you. Someone to carry that toughness for her. Let her be soft once in a while.”

I can’t protest, say that Delaney doesn’t ‘have me’, because somehow, Sadie has seen through it all. I blink, dumb, as Sadie leans back and gathers the bloodied dressings from the table.

“You’re all done. But, Ares, I seriously think you need to go to the hospital. I don’t want to be the reason you can’t ride again, or hold a fork, or —”

“Sadie!” Reaper’s voice is sharper this time. Sadie doesn’t startle, but she does pull herself back. She nods once, firmly. “I’ll let you guys talk.”

With a soft smile, she leaves, closing the heavy door to the war room behind her. Reaper lets his forehead fall against the wood. He sighs, the weight of the world on him.

“Fuck, lighten up. You’d think you were the one who just killed a deputy.”

Reaper pushes smoothly off the door and turns. “Do you think I’m fucking stupid, Ares?”

My stomach flips. My face stays cold. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Reaper’s eyes flash. I’m not surprised when he stalks toward me, but when he grabs my shirt, hauls me to my feet and slams me into the wall? Yeah, I’m fucking surprised.

“She was covered in blood. Fucking drenched in it. That little girl, she—” He chokes, his voice strangling, “ You should have done it. You should have fucking done it. Not her.”

Rage bubbles up inside me. I shove him off, one shoulder and hand doing most of the work. Reaper lets me, taking a step back.

“Don’t you think I know that? I tried. Jesus, I broke my fucking hand to get to her. I was too late.”

“You were supposed to leave her,” he spits back. “You defied a direct order. If you’d just left her, Flores would never—”

“That’s bullshit and you know it,” I snarl. “What if it was Sadie?”

Something comes over him, a darkness that floods his eyes. He steps up to me, nose-to-nose.

“You’d better think very carefully about what you’re going to say next.”

“You would have died before you left Sadie behind.”

Reaper pulls in a sharp breath. I hold his gaze. “Tell me I’m wrong,” I say, daring.

Something loosens in Reaper and he rocks back. I watch his hand come around from the back of his jeans and it takes me a second to realize how close I came to a bullet between the eyes.

“I already left Delaney once. I wasn’t going to do it again.”

Reaper cocks his head. “What do you mean?”

The words crawl up my throat, the knowledge that’s been cutting me up from the inside. Finding the chair, I sink down.

“I didn’t put it together until all this shit happened, but when Delaney came to my house that night, when she was a kid, she asked me to do something.”

“Do what?”

“She wanted me to kill someone.”

Reaper doesn’t react. I can see him trying to piece it together, but he’s not there yet.

“She never said who,” I continue. “Never got the chance. Jackson showed up a second later and then, well, it’s not like I could exactly knock on her door and ask her about it.”

“Why didn’t you tell us this?”

I bark a bitter laugh. “And say what? The Sheriff’s daughter knows just a little too much about the Wastelander M.O.? You wanted me to put a target on her back?” I shake my head. “Besides, I didn’t think much of it after… after all the shit that followed. I was kind of busy trying to keep my head down and not end up on some fucking registry.”

“We know you didn’t do anything to that kid.”

“I know! Fuck!”

My breaths come out ragged. Painful. I close my eyes. Swallow hard.

“But I know who did. It’s who she wanted me to kill. And if I’d just listened, if I’d figured it out sooner, I could have fixed it. She would have been safe — from him, from Flores, from all of this shit.”

When I open my eyes, I meet Reaper’s.

“It’s time to make it right. And I need your help.”