Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Lucas

My arms are pulled behind my back at an awkward angle, the handcuffs painfully tight. I don’t speak. I don’t say anything as we hurl down the road toward the Sheriff’s Station.

The moment my brother said the police were at the house, I knew. Something in my gut told me everything that’s happened in the last couple of months had finally caught up with me.

When I got to the house, the police presented me with a warrant for my arrest, then read me my rights as they handcuffed me, and led me out onto the lawn.

My only regret is wrapping Wyn up in all of this. She had no idea what the fuck was going on—and I’d intended to keep it that way for as long as I could. And maybe it’s fucked up, but everything I did, I’d do all over again, just to get those few blissful weeks with Wyn.

When we pull up to the station, my lawyer and Jackson’s uncle, John McKnight, is already waiting for us in the parking lot, dressed in a suit and tie.

McKnight looks pissed. His graying hair is combed back, his mouth pulled into a hard line, jaw clenched. The guy is an absolute shark and has access to some of the most powerful people in the government—both in the U.S. and abroad. That’s just one of the reasons he’s the best.

I’m hauled out of the backseat of the cruiser and into the station. McKnight follows, barking orders at the police officers—everything from this being a clear violation of my constitutional rights to the promise that he’s going to sue “every-fucking-person involved in this case” once this is over.

With a hand clasped around my elbow, I’m led down the hallway and shoved into an interrogation room. McKnight turns to the officer handling me. “I need a moment alone with my client,” he says stiffly. When the officer nods and moves to leave, he stops them. “Whoa, hold on.” He points to the upper corner of the room. “Cameras off.”

With a huff, the officer grabs a chair and pulls it over to the wall. He climbs up onto it and flips something on the back of the camera, which switches the red light off.

“Are there any other recording devices in this room?” McKnight asks.

“No, that’s it,” the officer replies.

“Great. Get out.”

When the officer is gone, McKnight shuts the door and sits down across from me. He opens up his leather notebook and pins me with a withering stare. I’ve known John McKnight my whole life, so his disapproving look feels like being scolded by an uncle.

“You’re in some serious shit,” he says, leaning back.

“I hadn’t noticed,” I reply with a smirk.

McKnight shakes his head. “You’re from a good family, Lucas, and you’re continuing your family’s legacy, which I can appreciate. You and the other guys. But the Sacred Sons aren’t being careful enough. We have an understanding with the police, but they can only turn a blind eye to so much before people start asking questions…”

I blink at him, surprised. I’d assumed I was being brought in about the Gabriel shit, but could this be about something else entirely? Fuck knows I’ve done enough to warrant being arrested a hundred times over. “Is this about Tyler?”

That dude, August, from Shadow and Ash, did say we’d be sorry about what we did to Tyler. I’d assumed that was a bluff, but I don’t know, maybe Shadow and Ash is better connected than I assumed they were.

“No,” McKnight says quickly. “That was a suicide, case closed.”

I shrug. “Okay, then the assault against Kai? The stalking? What?”

I mean, fuck, it could be anything at this point.

“They’re charging you with first-degree murder,” he says somberly.

I nod slowly, adjusting my arms. My muscles burn from being in such an awkward position for so long. “And who am I supposed to have killed?”

He pushes out a breath, opens his notebook, pulls a photo out, and slides it across the table to me. “His name was Justin Welch.”

I glance down at the photo, amazed at his resemblance to Gabriel. The facial features are different, but his coloring and build are spot on.

With a shrug, I shake my head. “Never met him.”

“He had a loose connection with an underground society called?—”

“Let me guess,” I interrupt. “Shadow and Ash?”

McKnight’s eyes widen like he wasn’t expecting me to know their name. “Precisely. I didn’t realize you were aware of them. I heard their name for the first time this morning.”

“The witness in Gabriel’s case is also associated with Shadow and Ash,” I say with another shrug.

“And you didn’t feel compelled to mention that to me?” McKnight says, annoyed.

“Why? Gabriel is alive now. Case closed, right?”

“Not exactly. Someone did die that night—a real piece of shit, though.” He flips his notebook open again and pulls out a sheet of paper. “He’s been booked for drug trafficking, burglary, assault…and recently, attempted rape.”

“Wow, this guy sounds like a peach,” I say flatly. “So, clue me in…why do we care that he’s dead?”

McKnight lifts his hands. “Murder is murder, and from what I’m hearing, they have surveillance footage of you pushing this guy into the path of the train.”

Releasing a breath, I lean back, angling my body in a way that doesn’t crush my arms. “Why would I kill a guy I don’t even know?” I ask.

“You tell me, Lucas. I haven’t seen the video, but apparently, it’s pretty damning.”

Goddamn. “So a video just happens to magically appear, is that it?”

McKnight shrugs. “From what I’m being told, there’s an abandoned building across from where this all happened, and the owner just remembered that he had cameras installed to catch trespassers.”

“He just happened to remember?” I laugh under my breath. Damn, whoever set this up is good. “That’s pretty damn convenient.”

“Listen, I have connections that I’ve already reached out to, and we’ll try to get this worked out, but I have one question for you, and I need you to be honest with me…”

“Okay, shoot.”

“Did you kill this guy? Was that you on the surveillance footage?”

I look McKnight dead in the eye and I lean forward. “Before I answer that, there’s something I need you to do for me.”

McKnight leans back in the cheap plastic chair, and I can already tell, he’s frustrated with me. “What is it?”

“I need you to put Gwendolyn Barker on all of my bank accounts.”