“She’s not to be trusted,” Levi says. “She literally ran with Jinn, betrayed you.”
Before Carrie can answer, Whale cuts in. “You’re not the only ones with trust issues. Last time I checked, both of you were supposed to be locked up. Nobody here’s innocent.”
Smoke leans against the wall, watching everyone with a wary eye. Richie keeps close, arms folded.
I try to ease the tension, putting myself between the couch and the rest of the room. “Let’s just hear her out, alright? We’re all in the same mess now.”
Jace looks unconvinced. “She needs to talk. We need to know what’s really going on.”
Carrie sighs. “Now’s not the time.”
“We barely have any left,” Levi says. “The cops could be here any minute.”
Jace stops, glaring down at Marcy, his voice harsh. “Enough. Where is he, Marcy? Where’s Jinn?”
She just clings to Carrie, flinching away from him, silent. Levi’s had enough too. He leans in, voice sharp. “You’re not saying a word. Maybe you need to talk to the cops. Let them squeeze it out of you.”
I watch the way his hands clench and unclench, the wild look in his eyes. He’s on the edge. I move closer, just in case.
Carrie holds Marcy tighter, raising her voice. “Stop it. She’s not ready for this. She can barely sit up.”
Marcy shakes her head, pulling herself free from Carrie’s arms. Her voice is rough but clear. “No, I’ll talk. You want the truth? Jinn planned that ambush for weeks. The frame job was always his idea. At first, it was just about getting Jace out of the way. Then he realized Wrecker and Blade were just as much of a threat. And he wasn’t working alone.”
Levi frowns, his voice rough. “What do you mean he wasn’t working alone? Was it someone in the club?”
Marcy looks up, voice flat and tired. “No. Not the club.”
Jace’s anger is like a live wire. “Then who? Who the hell is helping him?”
Marcy takes a shaky breath, staring right at him. “Jinn is working with the ATF.”
28
CARRIE
Ican barely breathe. The words echo in my head, ringing out even as the room buzzes with voices and questions. Jinn, working with the ATF, his betrayal far more complex than a spider web, more than I could ever imagine.
I feel like the floor is shifting beneath me, nothing solid anymore.
I turn to Marcy, my voice trembling. “What do you mean he planned it for weeks?
Marcy meets my eyes, her face drawn and tired. “You remember those nights he’d disappear? The first time was when he was dealing that designer speed—alpha-PVP, or whatever the hell they called it. He got caught. Someone tipped off the cops.”
Jace shakes his head.
Marcy draws in a shaky breath, her fingers twisting in the blanket on her lap. “Jinn stole a lot of money from the locker,” she says quietly. “He knew it was only a matter of time before someone noticed, especially Jace. He was always the one keeping track, always asking questions.”
Jace stiffens but doesn’t interrupt. Marcy glances at him, then down at her hands. “He had to move fast. That’s why he setyou up that night. He needed you out of the way before you could start digging or bring anyone else in.”
Levi mutters, “So it was all about covering his own ass.”
Marcy nods. “Exactly.” She sits close to me, knees tucked to her chest, her voice barely above a whisper. “That night, I was asleep on Jinn’s bed. I felt sick—guilty about what we’d done to you, Carrie. I never wanted to hurt you like that.”
I watch her, trying to hold back tears. Marcy looks smaller than I remember, worn down.
She swallows hard. “It was still dark when Jinn shook me awake. He said we had to move, and we had to do it now. We left before the sun was up. He wouldn’t tell me why, just kept saying we needed to be far away when it all went down.”
She wraps her arms tighter around herself. “We ended up crashing in this penthouse a few towns over. Fancy place, way above what we could ever afford. I asked him how he got it. That’s when he hit me for the first time.”
