She gave me a sad smile. “Yeah. Look, I know it sounds crazy, but I can’t just leave them there.”
“Why not? You can’t infiltrate a motorcycle club compound alone. And pretend you do. Say, against all odds, you somehow slip past the recruit guarding the basement and break those girls free. What then? Do you just take them all home? You think the Serpents aren’t going to find out you were behind it? They’ll come for you.” No. That wasn’t strong enough wording. Shaking my head, I tried again. “They’ll make an example out of you, Sasha.”
“You think I don’t know that?” The fear in her eyes told me she did. She knew exactly how this would end and she still insisted on doing it. “Every second I spend with Breaker is torture. Every text message he sends me, every sip I take in his presence, every time he touches me… he’ll break me eventually. But it doesn’t matter, because I’m in too deep now. He knows who I am, where I live, and someone at the department is helping him.”
“You could leave,” I suggested.
She shook her head. “He’d find me.”
I snorted. “Not if I helped you.”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re a little cocky?”
“Nah. They’re usually too busy marveling at my skill to talk shit like that.” I gave her a grin.
Chuckling, she shook her head. “I’m sure.”
“I’m not all talk; I really am that good. I can make you disappear and no one would find you.”
“That sounds ominous.”
It was good to know that even after all the shit she’d been through, the woman still had a sense of humor. “Not in a sleep-with-the-fishes kind of way. It’d be more like witness protection but without a paper trail. Nobody but you and me would know your new identity. You could have a new life, somewhere else, a chance to start over. You can forget all about Breaker and the Serpents.”
She stared at me, seemingly considering the offer. “And what happens to the girls?”
My answer for that wasn’t as promising. “We can send in an anonymous tip and trust the system to do its job. You’re one suspended cop; it’s not up to you to save anyone. You’ve gone above and beyond your duties already. Nobody expects more from you.” Hell, I was amazed she’d done this much. She had balls of steel and a backbone of iron.
She dropped her gaze and looked away, picking at the hem of her borrowed shorts. “Wanna know why I became a police officer?”
After everything she’d told me, I had a pretty good idea I knew the answer already. “Because of what happened with your mom?”
“She never trusted cops, said they cared more about the law than the people. I promised her I’d be different, that my duty would be to serve and protect the public.”
Curious, I asked, “What’d she say to that?”
“That I’d try, but one bad apple will ruin a pie. One good apple won’t fix it.”
“Solid. She was a wise woman.”
Sasha’s brow furrowed in disbelief. “She wasn’t wise, she was hopeless. She watched the love of her life die and she lost hope and gave up. Had Mom been wise, she would have enrolled in college, made a career for herself, dug us out of the hole Dad’s death put us in. She was a single mother raising two girls. There are programs she could have taken advantage of. She had options. She chose drugs. She gave up on us, and herself, before the needle ever pierced her skin.”
Harsh, but honest. Throwing her logic back at her, I said, “Some might argue that you gave up before you ever stepped into The Serpent’s Nest.”
She stared at me for a solid minute before shaking her head with a chuckle. “I guess I am my mother’s child after all. I’ve made peace with my impending death, but the rest of my life will be spent getting those girls out of there.”
The woman had no sense of self-preservation. “Some things are what they are. You can’t change everything.”
“I don’t believe that. Things change all the time. Evolution, birth, growth, death, war, erosion, everything we know is based on change. Regardless, it’s not my job to alter the path of the police force. It’s my duty to get those girls home safe.”
I stared at her, amazed at the conviction in her voice. “You can’t do that alone.”
“You offering to help me?”
“On this suicide mission? No thank you. I’m not about to become the Clyde to your Bonnie, babe. That’s not how I roll.”
“I know. I’m sorry. That was a failed attempt at sarcasm. I wouldn’t ask you to help me. I shouldn’t even be here putting you in danger. Nobody saw us leave together, did they?”
“No. I handled it.”
