Chapter Seventeen

"I took this image off the bank surveillance at the corner," Mac said through the speakerphone. "The sedan had to stop because of the red light, and I think it's a pretty good image."

Brim clicked on the link Mac had sent and he stared at the face of his ex-wife. Sadness consumed him. Clearly, she had let bitterness and anger consume her, and thought he was the one to blame.

"I take it you know her," Mac said.

"Yeah. My son's mother."

"Oh, man. That's harsh."

"Thanks, Mac. I'll take it from here."

"Yep," the hacker said, and a moment later the line went dead.

Brim stared at Cindy, trying to make sense of everything. How and why had Knuckles gotten involved? What had she done or promised to make the brother turn on his club?

"Didn't think her pussy was that good," Thorn muttered, echoing his thoughts.

Brim raised a brow. "Something you should tell me?"

Thorn blinked. "Oh, hell no. That came out completely wrong."

Brim sighed. "Doesn't matter. She's gotta be put down."

"I can't believe Knuckles turned on you. That he'd betray all of us." At that moment, Thorn's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the caller ID, frowning for a moment before answering. "Yeah? What the fuck? Okay. Okay. I'll be there as soon as I can."

He closed out the call before looking at Brim.

"What?"

"Seems like your girl took care of the problem."

Brim frowned. "What're you talking about?"

"That was Leia. Asked me to help her conceal a body."

"What the fuck?" Brim surged to his feet. "She's at Cindy's?"

"Yep."

"God damn it. She's supposed to be in the hospital. Grab Ghost and meet me by the bikes."

Cindy lived in a run down, dilapidated single story home that probably had been really nice when it was first built. Passed down through her family, she had let the thing slowly succumb to rot. She had suggested having it refurbished when they'd first gotten married, but Brim didn't want to live in the middle of nowhere twenty minutes away from the club.

Leia sat on the outside steps, watching as they parked their bikes. Once the engines had been cut, the absolute silence of the area was more than a little eerie.

"I thought you'd come alone," she said to Thorn.

"You thought wrong. How could I not tell Brim?"

"Standing right here," Brim said.

She looked up at him and he stared back, vaguely aware that Ghost and Thorn headed into the house.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

Leia nodded. "Your shadow is gone."

The implication was clear. "I take it from your doing?"

Thorn and Ghost came back out. He glanced at his men, noting that Thorn looked grim while Ghost went to circle the house.

"Cindy is dead," his V.P. announced solemnly. He flicked at look at Leia. "Stabbed through the heart."

Leia opened her hand and Brim saw his butterfly switchblade. He took it back.

"What did you do, Leia?" he asked.

"You wanted me gone, but there was still a shadow on you," she said softly. "I had to make sure you were going to be okay, so I came here, and I took care of the matter."

"How did you know it was Cindy?"

"I saw her at Wal-Mart. I didn't know who she was at the time, not until I remembered a picture that Martha had showed me. She was in the background. I took a hunch."

"What did she tell you?"

"She seduced Knuckles and sent him after you," Leia replied. "But she didn't care about him. She was the one who broke into your club. Who told Knuckles where to find you."

"Cindy was the driver of the sedan," Brim said. "Mac sent me the pictures he was able to gather from hacking into security cameras."

"I know," she said. "I called Kix to get this address. He had Mac send me the pics, too."

At that moment, Ghost came back.

"Best way to cover this up, Prez, is by burning it down," he said. "We stage her in the bed, add a cigarette or two … the wiring in this place is so old no one will think twice."

"Do it." Brim held out his hand to Leia. "And make sure we make a huge contribution to the sheriff's reelection campaign as well."

While his men took care of his orders, Brim pulled her up next to him and cupped her face.

"Are you okay? Did she attack you?"

"I'm fine."

He frowned. "Then why?"

"I couldn't leave without knowing you were safe," she said. She gave him a sad smile. "I know you don't love me. I know you want me gone. But I could only live in this world knowing you're somewhere in it."

"Then you know nothing," he said. "Because I love you so damn fucking much it tore me up seeing you in the hospital. I had to protect you, and that meant being far away from me."

"You … you love me?"

"I know this is fast, but never thought I'd find someone like you. Never thought I'd be so consumed by someone. I don't want you gone, Leia. I want you right by my side."

"Then why did you push me away?"

"Because I didn't want the ugliness in my world to touch you. I want to protect you, always."

"And I will do anything to protect you," she said. "I accept your life is dangerous. I accept that things aren't legit. I accept that you kill bad people. Clubs are family, right? You're all my family now."

He bent his head and kissed her on the mouth. The smell of smoke filled the air and he pulled back to take hold of her hand.

"Time to go home," he said.

She nodded. "Sounds good. There's just one more thing I need to know."

He raised an eyebrow. "And that is?"

"Just what did happen on your sixteenth birthday?"