Chains

C hains waited for Sprite to finish talking to her club's Prez before asking her if she was ready. She looked hesitant when she told him that she was, and he wanted to call her on it, but he knew that she needed to do this. He was just thankful that she'd allow him to be at the diner in case things went sideways. She was right, he wasn't about to take no for an answer—especially when it came to her and the baby's safety.

Savage wired her up and Bowie tested the hidden microphone to make sure that it was working properly. He wished that Sprite would let him drive her to the diner, but she insisted that was a bad idea. If her mother spotted him in the truck, she'd call the cops, and they might never get their answers.

"You need to ride over with Bowie and Savage," Sprite insisted.

"She's right," Savage and Banshee said in unison.

"Fine," growled, "but if I think that something is not right, we're pulling you out of there."

"I understand," she said. Sprite went up on her tiptoes and gently kissed him. "I'll be fine," she promised. "I know how to handle my mother." He just hoped that she did because losing her or their baby wasn't an option.

"We'll be listening the whole time," Savage said. "We need a word that you can use if things seem wrong in any way. A word that you can use in everyday conversations but not so common that you might say more than once."

Sprite seemed to think about it for a few seconds, and smiled, "Necklace," she said. "My mother never leaves home without wearing at least three of them. She's done that since I was a little girl. If she seems off, I'll tell her that I like her necklace and that will be your clue that I'm in trouble."

"Sounds good," Bowie said. "We'll have your back, Sprite," he promised.

"Thanks guys," she said.

"We'll give you a few minute head start and then follow you into town. That way your mom doesn't suspect that you brought back up," Savage said.

"Sounds good." Sprite grabbed the truck keys from ' hand and smiled up at him. "See you soon." He wanted to tell her that he loved her and that whatever happened today wouldn't change that fact, but he didn't want to get too sappy in front of Banshee and the guys. Plus, he and Sprite hadn't given each other those words yet, and he didn't want the first time he said it to her to be with an audience.

"See you soon, baby," he said, giving her a half-hearted smile. He watched her as she climbed into the truck, and when she drove out of the lot, he was sure that she was watching him in the rear-view mirror. knew that his girl would never back down from trying to prove his innocence. Sprite believing in him meant everything to him, and if meeting with her mother could prove his innocence, all his worry would be worth it.

The three of them parked across the road in a convenience store parking lot. He wished that they could park closer, but Savage insisted that wasn't a good idea. He didn't want anyone spotting . He knew that Savage was right, but he was getting more antsy by the second.

They watched as Sprite went into the diner and found her mother. Bowie turned on the receiver and Sprite's voice filled the truck. "Mom," she said, nodding at her mother.

"You look wonderful," her mother said. He was thankful that Sprite was still not showing enough for her mother to notice. She had worn an oversized jacket that hid her growing belly, but there was no way that her mother would figure out that she was pregnant.

"She's doing great," Bowie assured. "They are exchanging small talk and that will keep her mother off guard."

"Sprite is smart, and she'll get through this," Savage said.

"I know, I just wish that she didn't have to go through seeing her mom to possibly prove that I'm innocent. What if she's wrong and her mother doesn't know who killed Jake?" asked.

"Then, we'll figure out another way to prove that you didn't kill him," Savage insisted. He just wished that it was that easy. Whoever was setting him up was doing a fantastic job and he was sure that the cops had accepted that he killed Jake, no questions asked.

"Why did you want to see me, Mom?" Sprite asked

"Because I think that you're in danger. I didn't believe you when you said that you didn't know where your boyfriend was. I wanted to see you to convince you to leave him and come with me," she said.

"This is a bad idea," growled, grabbing the handle of the door.

"Wait," Bowie said, putting his hand on ' shoulder. "Just give her a chance before we go storming in there."

tried to sit back and relax, but there was no way that would be possible. " isn't a murderer," Sprite insisted, "and, there is no way that I'm leaving him."

"He's just like Jake," her mother insisted, "he'll hurt you just like Jake hurt me."

"Jake hurt me too, Mom, or have you forgotten that already?" Sprite asked.

"I haven't forgotten," her mother spat. She sounded like she was getting angrier by the minute and worried that Sprite was pushing her too hard, too quickly.

"Slow down, baby," he whispered to himself as though willing Sprite to hear him.

"Well, I'm sorry to tell you that you're wasting your time. I'm not running away with you and I'm not leaving ," Sprite insisted. She stood and turned away from her mother as she reached for Sprite's arm, tugging her backward.

"What are you doing?" Sprite shouted. She was garnering a lot of interest from the other diners, and he worried that someone was going to call the cops.

"I'm doing what I should have done the night that you left. If you had just stayed, everything between Jake and I would be fine. I wouldn't have had to kill him, and you'd be out of my life for good. Well, I'm going to remedy that now," her mother spat, pulling a gun from her purse. The diners screamed and scattered, hiding under tables and running for the kitchen.

"Fuck," shouted.

"She just confessed to killing Jake," Savage said. "Call the cops, Bowie. and I are going in after her." They both jumped out of the truck and ran across the road and to the side of the diner.

"You go in the back, I'll take the front," ordered.

"She'll shoot you," Savage growled.

"I don't give a fuck about me," barked. "If that bitch hurts Sprite or our baby, I might as well be dead. Let me do this Savage," he insisted. Savage nodded and started for the back of the diner.

"Good luck, man," he shouted over his shoulder to .

"You too," breathed. He waited for Savage to round the corner and slip into the back of the diner before he went for the front door, hoping that would give him a fighting chance. He felt Sprite's eyes on him as soon as he walked through the front door. He could feel her fear and he hated that her mother was doing this to her.

"You can't be here," Sprite almost whispered.

"Oh, I see that the white knight has come to rescue you," her mother said, yanking her back by the hair. "Well, you're too late. My daughter has caused me enough trouble and I'm going to end her reign of terror."

"Sprite hasn't done anything to you. She told you what Jake did to her, and you refused to believe her. You're the one who should be punished. You killed Jake and tried to pin it on me," he said.

Her mother's gasp filled the room, and he could tell the second that she realized that Sprite was wearing a wire. "You have on a wire, don't you?" her mother asked. "How else would your boyfriend know that I killed Jake? How could you do this to me?" couldn't believe the nerve of Sprite's mother asking her such a question.

Sprite barked out her laugh. "I didn't do anything to you, Mother. You did this to yourself. You need to put the gun down and face facts. Too many people just heard you confess to me that you killed your boyfriend." saw Savage moving out of the corner of his eye and he knew that time was limited. Sooner or later, the cops were going to show up and then, all hell would break loose. He didn't want his woman caught in the crossfire when the shit hit the fan.

"It's over," said. "We have your full confession and there is no way out now. Just let her go, and you can walk out of here. Or you can stand here and stick around for the cops to show up and we can do this the hard way," he said.

Her smile was mean as she told him that she liked doing things the hard way. That's when everything around him seemed to start moving in slow motion. She pushed Sprite at him, and he caught her, spinning around and putting himself between her and her mother's gun. Before he knew what was happening, he heard the gunshot before he could feel the piercing pain on his left side.

"," Sprite shouted as he hit the floor. She was leaning over him, and he wanted to tell her to get down, but couldn't seem to get the words to come out of his mouth.

Savage stormed into the diner and had Sprite's mother on the floor before she could get off another shot. let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding, knowing that his woman was safe. He knew that Bowie and Savage would take care of her even if he couldn't and that last thought gave him peace as the world went dark around him. The last thing he heard was Sprite begging him not to leave her and he didn't want to, but telling her that wasn't possible.