The door burst open behind Steel, and Viktor ran in. His cut was soaked down the front like he’d had a tray of drinks spilled on him. His gun was drawn, but like Steel, he kept it pointed downward. A moment later, Darrin emerged from the back of the store. Jack must have given him the code to the backdoor. Or maybe everyone in the club knew it after Keys had upgraded the system.
“Lace your fingers behind your head,” Steel ordered the man.
He slowly complied. “You need to listen to me, Gunny. I am not your enemy.”
Steel kept his gun lowered as he stepped forward. “Search him,” he told Darrin, who came up behind the man.
Darrin holstered his gun before bending to do a sweep of the man’s body.
“Jenna, baby, I need you to breathe for me.”
A puff of air she hadn’t realized she’d been holding escaped her mouth. He hadn’t even beenlookingat her, and yet he’d somehow known that she’d been holding her breath. It was…unnerving to see Steel in place of her husband. She understood why others respected as much as they feared him. His eyes… They were so cold. Like frosted steel.
“He’s clean,” Darrin said, stepping back.
Steel nodded. He lowered his gun to his side but did not holster it. Stepping forward, he offered the man on his knees a hand up. He accepted, letting Steel pull him to his feet.
“It’s fucking good to see you, Gunny,” he said, a half-smile on his lips.
“You too, Hagerty. Now, do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
“It’s Shaw, Sir. He’s out, and from the greeting I just received, I’m assuming he’s already after you.”
Jenna watched her husband’s face. He didn’t pale at the news, or even blink an eye. His shoulders didn’t stiffen, and he didn’t cross his arms. But she knew him. Jack or Steel, she’d spent forty years with this man. His chin lifted minutely, his nostrils flared once, and his head barely tipped on his neck’s axis.
He turned his head and looked directly at her. For a moment, the briefest of seconds, his eyes softened, and he was Jack again. But his stiffness, the defensiveness of his stance did not lessen.
“Pack up your things,” he told her. “We’re closing early.”
Jenna knew better than to argue. Whomever Shaw was, she didn’t see fear in Steel’s eyes. They were too emotionless for that, but there was something there. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on right away.
It wasn’t until they were in their truck and on their way home with Viktor, Darrin, and Hagerty in the SUV behind them that she realized what it was: guilt.
CHAPTER 6
Griffin Shaw. Steel hadn’t heard that name in decades. His was one name amongst hundreds in the files Keys had given Steel months ago. It hadn’t stood out in any way. If anything, it had been at the bottom of his list of possible suspects, all of which had gone nowhere.
How had hemissedthis?
Nearly thirty years ago, Shaw had tried to frame Steel for murder. It seemed so obvious now, with history’s failed attempt to repeat itself. Worst of all, he had been a sniper.
Steel had halted the club from descending on Little Shoesen masse. Seeing James Hagerty again was like a blast from the past, but the man hadn’t been a sniper. Still, he hadn’t liked the coincidence that in the only five minutes he’d left Jenna’s side all day, that had been the moment someone from his past had walked through the store’s doors. Ghost’s messages were clipped, but he was calling the Officers back to the clubhouse.
Jenna looked confused when Steel pulled into the clubhouse. “You’re not taking me home?”
“You have a right to hear about this,” he told her, throwing the gearshift into Park but didn’t turn the engine off. “But it’s your choice if you’d rather go home.”
“I’d rather be with you,” she said evenly. “Now tell me why you feel guilty about that name.”
Steel raised an eyebrow. “Who said I did?”
She raised an eyebrow right back at him, not giving an inch. “Your poker face doesn’t work on me,Steel. Fess up here or in front of your brothers. The choice is yours.”
Steel really shouldn’t be so frustrated that she’d seen through his mask. It wasJenna. But this wasn’t something he was proud of, and if there was one thing he wished she hadn’t seen about him, this was likely it.
They sat in silence for a moment as Darrin and Viktor escorted Hagerty towards the clubhouse and into the main doors. At the very least, Bulldog would already be there. As an author, he didn’t go to work like the rest of them did. He had a home office where he worked on his next manuscript and Cassie did her homeschool work.
“Do you remember why I gave up being a sniper?”
