“I don’t suggest you give up your location. That’s your safe space. Even if he turns out to be everything we think he can be, there’s still Cleaner. He sounds like an awful motherfucker.”
Hopper laughed. “You curse hardcore.”
“Honey, I curse hardcore and drink hardcore.”
“Randolph said you were really classy. A girly chick.”
“I am. I love fashion, make-up, and opera. That doesn’t mean I can’t call a motherfucker a motherfucker.”
“So true.”
“If you visit Bash and decide to make a detour to Hortensia, there’s money and hugs waiting for you.”
“Thank you, Kendall,” Hopper said, a skeptical note in her voice.
Kendall understood. She wouldn’t push the woman. If she took the offer, then she’d see for herself. If Kendall never talked to her again, she hoped she remembered she chose to remain isolated.
“Would you like my phone number?” Hopper asked after a moment. “You can give it to the guys. I’d love to talk to Meggie again. You can also call me whenever you’d like.”
“I’d love your phone number. Please feel free to call me as well.”
When Kendall hung up, she contemplated her conversation with Hopper. Christopher would want a report on Kendall’s meeting with Bash as soon as possible. She needed to focus on that. She also needed to draft documents to present to Christopher about the peace agreement between the Dwellers and the Scorpions. Maybe she’d also assemble a business deal of some sort. She just needed to figure out what working relationship would benefit both clubs. She also looked over the financial records to calculate how much Bash might be owed since Cee Cee’s death.
Johnnie would be so angry with her.
Kendall swallowed. The way he treated her at the meeting, the things he’d said to Bash about her, ran through her head. Fuck him. Part of the reason she’d been looking for housesandattorneys was because of that motherfucker’s behavior in front of a man who was supposed to be his enemy.
Anger surging into her, Kendall awakened her laptop and dialed the number on the screen to inquire about the house that would work fine for her once she divorced Johnnie.
Every time Johnnie remembered Kendall’s meeting with Bash yesterday, fury rushed through him. But something else, too.Fear. He knew him and Kendall reached a turning point.She’dreached a turning point with how she saw their marriage. She was fed-up.
Whether she slept with Christopher and Mortician didn’t matter–much. In the big picture, those infractions could be overlooked. The way she’d dressed for Bash, looked at him as if he were a man and not an animal, laughed with him, and didn’t cower, frightened Johnnie.Thatspoke to him more than if she’d fucked the entire club. He was losing his wife.
Just as he could lose his life.
The closer Kendall got to the truth, the more in danger Johnnie was. The truth wouldn’t set him free. It would get him fucking killed.
Going on the run looked less like just words thrown out to Cash McCall and more like a reality. He didn’t want to die. He didn’t want Megan to die. Not that it mattered any longer.
He just knew he was in deep shit. Christopher wanted him dead.
And Kendall was fed up.
He was confined to a small guest room. Not only was his beloved wife furious with him, but his children. He’d barely slept a wink, so he’d gotten out of bed quite early this morning and hastily arranged several meetings then hit the road for Seattle.
He opened a high yield savings account at a regional bank, moving some of the money from one of his personalaccounts that he used for vacations, cars, and entertainment. Kendall only bothered with their joint bank account and her own personal one that she used for her and Mattie’s wardrobes. Next, he met with a design team based out of Seattle but with offices in Pereira and other international locations. His grandfather’s Colombian farm probably warranted a complete rebuild. However, Johnnie just needed the kitchen, living room, a bedroom and a bathroom completed in the next month or two. Hopefully, hewouldn’thave a use for it anytime soon and he was just overreacting.
Having a place to live and money were two obstacles easy to overcome. The final two? Not so much.
To get away, an untraceable escape route was imperative. Christopher’s net reached far and wide. If Johnnie didn’t make strategic plans, he’d be caught and brought back to the club within an hour.
Finally, and possibly the most important, was Kendall. She might not want to leave when he told her he wouldn’t take the kids.
How could he? Four children would slow him down and allow him to be caught and killed.
Once they left, he didn’t anticipate a lengthy absence. Nothing to scar the kids due to parental desertion. Once shit settled down and Christopher remembered they were family, and once Megan missed Johnnie andremindedChristopher they were family, Johnnie and Kendall would return. If the thought of not having Kendall at his side didn’t panic him, he’d leave her with their kids. However, he wouldn’t survive an extended period without her.
Sleeping alone in that little bed was hell and she was right down the hallway. Having thousands of miles between them was untenable. She was the best thing that ever happened to him,the bright spot in a world of darkness.Ifhe really had to run, he couldn’t leave her behind, even for their children.
