“And how he’s been able to walk around the property like Scar,” Starbucks added. “He literally had a map of where to walk.”
“Is he out of our system?” Ghost demanded.
Keys nodded. “I swear. I double and tripled checked, and I had R—” His face flamed. “I mean, MV,Non Cras’ Tech. She verified, too. He’s out, and he can’t get back in.”
No wonder Ghost had told Steel to join this meeting; it was all connected. The dealership, Dixie Gilbert’s murder, the consignment store break-in, and now the pond being salted… But what was the goal? What was the endgame?
Steel didnotlike not knowing. Moreover, he did not like how he couldn’t see what his opponent was doing. Like he was playing on a chessboard with no visible squares.
“Go back to the night of the snowstorm,” Ghost ordered Keys. “I want to see it again.”
Keys pressed the necessary buttons and then the video changed. He still was wiping under his glasses every few seconds, driving home just how young he was. Keys was smart—so fucking smart. And it was rare that he was wrong or made a mistake. To have it be of this magnitude? Steel wasn’t sure if Ghost would punish Keys or not. It was no longer his call to make, but he hoped Ghost took into account that Keys was likely kicking himself harder than Ghost ever could. The kid was making amends, but there still had to be some form of penance. There would be, if it was anyone else, regardless of age.
“Fast forward,” Ghost ordered. “I want to see?—”
A blade flew through the air, whisking right through the center of the brothers, and pierced the television on the wall. The screen shattered as momentum forced it back and then it slipped from the rack, dangling crooked by just some wires and weak screws.
Scar stood in the back of the room, a white gauze bandage wrapped around his forehead and black hair. He was shaking, rage radiating off him like rays from a sun. His sapphire eyes appeared darker and yet flared with unkempt emotion.
Tally came bursting into the room behind him, slightly out of breath. “Fucking Christ, are you sure you’re not part robot? What the fuck, Scar? You’re supposed to stayin bed. I got all naked and everything for you!”
Scar’s attention, though, was not on his woman. His head turned, and his eyes landed on Steel. Quick as lightning, Scar bolted, and the next second, had Steel pinned up against the wall by his neck.
Steel was no slouch, but the immeasurable pressure suddenly on his throat took him by surprise. He tried to move, to bend Scar’s arm, to push him off. His efforts were as useless as trying to move stone.
Scar’s eyesblazed, and the wrap around his head only made him appear more menacing. Everything else faded away. Steel no longer saw the room they were in or heard the club brothers’ shouts as they tried to get Scar to release him. There was nothing but the two men and their shared fury.
Steel knew in that moment there was nothing he could do to stop Scar, and that was terrifying in and of itself. He was a warrior, a fighter. He never surrendered.Hehad always been the last line of defense. It had been many years since Steel faced down the barrel of a gun, both literally and metaphorically, and knew he wouldn’t reign victorious.
Yet it was also humbling. His life was in Scar’s hands, and there wasn’t a fucking thing he could do about it.
Only a few months ago, Scar had broken into a jail cell to sit next to Steel. True to form, he hadn’t said a word, hadn’t even looked at Steel. He’d sat down on that unforgiving metal bench, and that was it. For three plus days and three nights, Scar had remained in the cell with Steel keeping him company. They’d never spoken, though Bulldog had fumed at Scar from the other side of the bars for pulling such a stunt. When Carlos let Steel out to visit with Jenna, Scar would vanish and then reappearagain when it was time to lock Steel back up for the night. The unknown of his situation was frustrating and unnerving, but there was something reassuring in Scar’s silent presence.
Like Steel wasn’t facing the gallows alone.
Now, Scar had a grip on his throat so tight that Steel wondered if those piercing blue eyes would be the last things he saw in this world. He understood the difference between then and now. In Scar’s world, family meant everything, and Steel was family. Scar would protect and sacrifice himself in a heartbeat for family, including willingly locking himself up in a jail cell after being held prisoner and tortured by the Taliban for weeks. He’d done sofor Steel.
But there was one person who stood above the rest, one person that mattered so much more to Scar that he wouldn’t just sacrifice for her but destroy for her. He would rip and maim and exterminate any danger against her without thought or hesitation. Tally was, in the most primal sense, Scar’s greatest weakness and the source of his sanity.
In Scar’s mind, whatever the sniper’s vendetta was against Steel, it had endangered Tally, and that was beyond unacceptable.
Steel understood that mindset completely. Scar might have only had Tally in his life for several months, but Steel had had forty plus years with Jenna. While some might call Scar unhinged for attacking his friend and brother, Steel didn’t. If their positions were reversed, if there was an enemy he could fight to save and protect Jenna, he’d battle to the death to hand her a cure.
Scar’s touch sensitivity only occurred to Steel as the man brought them nose to nose against the wall. It must be killing Scar to be touching him so, yet the man took the pain like it was nothing. Then again, Scar had always been able to touchsomeone when it came to killing. Steel had seen him do it before without hesitation.
His lips formed a single word, but no sound came out of his mouth. Steel didn’t need to see to understand though. The man’s sapphire eyes had always been expressive, even when the rest of him wasn’t.
“I don’t know,” Steel croaked out. “I don’t know who it is!” Though he continued to struggle to get Scar off him, he wasn’t about to plead for his life.
A soft, feminine voice broke through, catching Steel’s attention above everything else. “Scar, put him down.”
Scar lifted his chin as if he wasn’t going to listen, but Tally somehow squeezed herself through the very small space between the two men’s bodies. He stepped back automatically so she didn’t hurt herself, letting go of Steel’s throat in the process.
Steel gasped and coughed as air reentered his body. His tunnel vision ceased and he saw the entire club standing behind Scar, looking furious. Ghost had his arm around Scar’s torso like he’d tried to throw his brother back to get him off Steel.
Steel waved them off, not wanting to cause Scar anymore pain. The bandage on his head wound was starting to show blood patches. “Bear.” Steel gestured to Scar’s head.
The big nurse moved forward, but Scar practically jumped away from him.
