I tucked the paper into my pocket like it was treasure and climbed into my car. Jay didn’t say to be careful, and I didn’t say I would. We both knew better. I drove back towards the motel with the feel of his leather still on my hands.
Sitting on the bed, I clutched the paper Jay had given me. I unfolded it on my knees, the paper soft at the edges from too many hands. Not a police report. Not an autopsy report. It was a photocopy, grainy, half-cropped, the header crooked.
INTAKE – HILLVIEW REHABILITATION CENTER.
My stomach dipped. Caleb’s name was there, spelled right for once, scrawled in his own jagged handwriting on the signature line. Date of admission: six weeks before the night they said he OD’d. Box checked:clean on entry.
My chest tightened.Clean on entry.
Every excuse I’d been fed—junkie relapse, weak will, overdose—all rang hollow when his own pen said otherwise.
It wasn’t the whole file, not even close, but it was enough to prove one thing. Caleb hadn’t been using when he walked into that place.
I folded the paper back up and shoved it in my pocket before my hands started to shake. Tomorrow, I was going back to the clubhouse.
Chapter 18
Reaper
Icaught Link out back later that morning, moments before church. He was leaning against the wall, smoking.
“Walk with me,” I said. It wasn’t a request.
He fell into step, flicking the butt to the ground. We rounded the corner to a quiet stretch, out of earshot of the others. Then I turned, crowding him back against the wall.
“You think I didn’t notice last night?” I snapped. “You think you get to play guard dog with her?”
His jaw flexed, but he didn’t drop his eyes. “I wasn’t playing anything, Pres. She was outside. Fangs showed. I wasn’t about to leave her alone.”
I leaned in, close enough he could feel the heat radiating off me. “She’s not your problem to solve. You don’t get between me and her. Ever.”
He shifted his weight. “Somebody had to look out for her. You seemed pretty busy with Gabby.”
The words landed like a body blow. My fist twitched, ready to put him on the floor, but worse than the rage was the flash of shame hot in my gut. He wasn’t wrong. Gabby’s touch hadbeen nothing but noise, but to Lucy and anyone else watching, it probably looked like I’d chosen her.
“You’re skating thin ice, Link,” I ground out. “You’re good with numbers. Smart. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that earns you rights you don’t have.”
His nostrils flared, but he didn’t back down. “I’m just saying, Lucy deserves someone paying attention.”
That fuelled something inside me. He had no claim, none of them did, and neither did I. Hell, I shouldn’t even have wanted her. But the thought of any of my brothers getting close made something dark coil tight in my chest.
Worse than that, Kingsley’s smirk was still in my head, and the way his boys had circled her. If Link thought I was blind to that, he was wrong. If Lucy thought she could walk into a place like that without consequence, she was dead wrong.
I let the silence stretch, thick enough to choke on, before stepping back. “Church in five. Don’t keep me waiting.”
He exhaled slow but nodded.
The atmosphere in church was thick with tension. Men filed in, their faces apprehensive. Riot stood at the front, waiting for me, while Boxer took a seat near the door, keeping a watchful eye on the room.
I stood at the head of the table, the skull patch on my kutte almost glowing in the dim light. I let the silence drag on for a few beats before I spoke.
“We’ve got a rat,” I said flatly, eyes scanning the room. No one dared to speak, but the shift in the air was palpable. “The shipment’s gone. The money’s gone. I want answers, and I want them now. Anyone got a problem with that?”
The room was deathly still.
I turned to Riot, who stepped forward. “We’ve got a list of names. Some of these men have been acting strange, too quiet, too nervous.”
“You think one of them sold us out?” Gage’s voice rumbled from the back.
