We stepped out of the bathroom. The scene got worse. Drew slumped in the corner of the room. Blood trickled from his mouth and darkened the front of his shirt. Vic sat next to him with tears streaming from his eyes and snot dripping from his nose. Another guy blankly stared into space with lifeless eyes, a gun still in his hand.
Romeo sat on the ratty couch. He glanced up from his phone. The hurt in his eyes took my breath. He stood, crossed the room, and carefully pulled me into a hug. “You should’ve told me.”
When he let me go, I took a step back. “The Kings are my problem. After everything the Hellers have gonethrough I didn’t want to bring my troubles into the MC.”
“You’re fucking family,” Romeo said. “You don’t deal with this alone. Now, we’re all about to have our asses handed to us. Rogue gets salty when he’s left out of a fight.”
Dozer chuckled and opened the side door as Bullet drove the hearse over the curb, onto the weeds and grass, and parked alongside the house.
Rogue threw open the passenger door and strode toward the house. His massive frame filled the doorway. He paused and surveyed the damage. A couple dead guys, a couple incapacitated, Cruz soaking wet and without a shirt, and I was a wreck.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” he said.
“Yeah, that about sums it up,” Romeo said. “Got another guy in there.” He nodded toward the bathroom.
Bullet stepped into the house.
Vic’s eyes widened. “Oh, man. Fuck, we didn’t know you were riding with Hellers,” he said to Bullet. “Last we heard you disappeared with Wrench and the Crawlers. Fuck, we heard you gave up pimping.”
Bullet lit a cigarette. “Shouldn’t believe rumors.”
Vic sniffed snot. “This is just a misunderstanding. Please, let me go. I won’t say fucking shit to anyone. Ryatt, fuck, man. We didn’t know you were riding with him.”
Dozer squatted down in front of Vic with a cigarette between his lips. He sparked the flame on his zippo. “Welcome to the party.”
“Looks like the party started without us.” Rogue’s brows pinched. “What happened?”
I wrapped an arm around my ribs and stood straighter. “This is on me. Kings think I’m a narc.”
Bullet raised a brow. “Are you?”
“Fuck, no. I didn’t say shit to the cops.”
Cruz stood next to me. “A couple months ago, a dealer was found dead in a bathtub after a raid in Shady Valley. I heard about it at the time. Blue was there when we talked about it.”
Rogue’s jaw ticked.
“A couple of their guys are going to do serious time,” Ryatt said. “I guess me getting probation set them off.”
Rogue pulled his cigarettes from his pocket. “How long have you known Kings suspected Ryatt?” he asked Cruz.
“Not long.”
“Anyone else know about this?” He indicated the dead guys on the floor.
“McKelle knows the Kings are after Ryatt.” They stared at each other. “And she’s going to know what went down here. She knows I went to Kane’s.”
Rogue growled and rolled his shoulders.
My spider senses prickled. Silent communication thickened in the room.
“Besides us,” Cruz finally said indicating Dozer and Romeo, “no one else knows about Ryatt.No oneknowsanythingelse.”
“I warned you and Blue about this.” Rogue shifted his gaze from me to Cruz. “You don’t fucking listen.”
“I went to talk to Kane. Nothing else, but when he told me about the Kings, about what they planned to do to Rizz, I mean Ryatt, fuck, no way was I waiting.”
Rogue grumbled. “Shit has a way of coming back and biting you in the ass.”
