“Good,” Emma said, her eyes hard. “I hope it hurt when it happened.”
“Well, I gouged out one of their eyes, so I can confirm that hurt,” I told them, getting a wicked smile out of Emma. “And judging by the blood covering everyone, there was a lot of pain.”
“Who are they?” Megan asked. “The guys. Syn and the others.”
“Well, I was stalking Roach one night,” I told them. “And these guys were doing a deal with him.”
“Drugs?” Megan asked.
“Guns,” I clarified. “It was going sideways, and one of Roach’s guys was going to shoot the tall, bearded guy. So I shot him. And… a partnership of sorts was formed. They wanted revenge for the attempted murder. I wanted revenge for what they did to you guys.”
“They’re bikers too?” Megan asked, likely thinking of the cut Syn had on.
“Yeah. But not the bad kind,” I explained. “Can I ask what happened with the other girls? I know they’re in the cities. But why—”
“Are we here?” Diana finished for me. “We’re the favorites,” she said with a cold smile. “We got to stay.”
“Do they ever come back?”
“No,” Megan said. “We wouldn’t even know they were still alive if we hadn’t overheard them talking about them.”
“Well, they’re not all alive,” Emma said, her eyes dark.
“Who?” I asked, my stomach dropping.
“Abby overdosed,” Megan supplied. “And we don’t know what happened with Kate. But she’s gone too.”
My heart cracked.
I was too late for them.
They’d never know I hadn’t given up on them, that I was trying to save them. They wouldn’t feel free again and have a chance to rebuild their lives.
“I helped them,” Diana said. “I helped them do all of this. Locked you out of your accounts. Helped forge documents…”
“You did what you had to do to survive.”
“What happens now?” Megan asked.
“Well, a lot of cleaning, it seems,” I said, glancing out of the kitchen at the blood on the walls.
“You’re not… starting up this club again, are you?” Emma asked, horrified.
The only reason I would have considered it would be if they wanted it. Because I’d known from the second I was dragged inside that it wasn’t, and never would be, home again. But if they needed that from me, for healing, I would have done it.
“I think this place should be left to rot,” I admitted. “A few years of good times we had doesn’t undo all the awfulness before and after.”
“What happens to us?” Megan asked.
“Um, well, I think… I think you guys might need to consider rehab. The others too, if we can talk them into it.”
“I never wanted this,” Diana said. “But after that first time, just one time, I couldn’t think of anything but the next high.”
“I know. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There is help. I’m sure it won’t be easy, but rehab and therapy will help. The guys, they have some friends—women—who have been through some really bad shit too. They’re coming to talk to you guys, discuss next steps.”
“What about the others?” Emma asked. “They need help. And they’re still being kept.”
“We’ll deal with the rest of the bikers. And we will do everything we can to get the other girls help.”
