“Hopefully not too much longer. Did anyone else see that blur go running by? I didn’t know Booker could move so fast when it doesn’t come to his fingers and his computer,” Zoey admits.
“Whatever he found must’ve been a doozy because he didn’t even stop long enough to say hi,” Van complains.
“Or order us not to go outside,” Letti tacks on. “That’s what I found odd because every man that walked out the doors said that to us before they left for the day.”
“Maybe it’s becausethey knowwe know better,” Jersey comments.
Van reaches around and pats Jersey on the shoulder. “She’s still delusional. Give her time and she’ll come to understand things better.”
“I’m not delusional,” Jersey states, sounding hurt.
“I’m not putting you down or insulting you, Jersey,” Van says, defending her stance. “These men, they’re a different breed from any you’ve ever met.”
Zoey picks up the explanation, being empathetic while saying, “They don’t assume we know anything, Jersey. They’re domineering, controlling, and protective on an obsessive level.”
“Because they want y’all safe,” she states.
Leaning over, I tell her, “It’s because they want us safe, Jersey. All of us, and that includes you.”
“Me?” she asks, pointing a finger at her chest. “Why me? I’m not anybody special.”
“You are,” Van argues. “You’re family, Jersey, whether you’re willing to admit that to yourself or not.”
“You’ve found your people, Jersey. You’re one of us and we take care of ours,” Zoey adds.
Using the pad of my thumb I wipe her cheeks clean from her shed tears and say, “We’re home, Jersey. We found our family.” As realization sets in, we crumble into each other’s arms and let the tears flow freely.
Neither of us ever felt like we’d find a place to belong. To surround ourselves with people who want us, need us, and care about us without any strings attached.
Whispering in her ear I ask, “You’ll stay here with me no matter what happens, right, sis?”
She giggles before responding, “I’d like to see you try and get rid of me. My niece or nephew needs me.”
Grabbing her hand I lay it over my flat belly, and acknowledge, “We both do.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
LoneStar
While we were in church,Booker told us he had tracked down the source of the live feed, disabled it, and erased the footage. After tracing the IP address, he got into the mainframe and planted a virus. Once the file is opened on the other end, that device will be completely wiped and rendered useless. For a moment, it felt like things were finally going our way—until he revealed it was all connected to Patrick’s mother’s mansion.
We’re being set up by that manipulative bitch and her son. We don’t know how she’s tied to the professor yet, but Booker is working morning and night to figure that out. But for the time being, we’re safe, or as safe as we can be while facing a gang of pussies and their parents. If they weren’t as well connected as they are, we’d take them out and put it all behind us. It’d be too suspicious if they met their demise so quickly after the sheriff died, and that’s what’s holding us back from taking things into our own hands.
Even with that in mind, we decided to pay a visit to the senator, remind her that we’re watching her. We want her nervous, we want her scared so she lets her guard down and makes a mistake, so as a club, we showed up en masse. For hours we sat idle in front of her house, just hanging out there with our eyes glued to her property. Intimidation goes a long way when your plan is to make somebody antsy, and I know we accomplished that feat because she and her son, Patrick, kept looking out the slats of the blinds. You could literally see their hands shaking even though we were more than an acre away from her front yard.
Riptide called it after police traffic picked up, a sign that she called them to patrol her neighborhood. With smiles on our faces, we rode back to the cemetery so we could have a chat with Mr. Stratton. Removing the cement slab from our fake grave, we each slowly descended into the buried mausoleum. A few footsteps falter when we walk past Sphinx, our prospect that went undercover and ended up losing an eye in the process. Only a handful of us were aware that he was our mole, Riptide wanted it that way and we supported him but now the jig is up and Riptide’s going to have to face an inquiry from our brothers, but that’s not a today problem, it’s something we can deal with tomorrow.
Side-eyes are shared between those who were in the dark, but they don’t stop for long before snapping out of it and following our pres further into the tunnels until we hit the single room that branches off from it.
Before we step inside, Rip turns around on his heels and states, “I know you all have questions, and I’ll be answering those soon. Keep in mind, everything I do is for the welfare of the club and my brothers. Club is life and brotherhood is sacred. That’s in my mind with every move I make. Always. There’s still a lot I don’tknow yet, but enough that it’s time to bring it to the table once Slayer returns. For now, I need you all to clear your minds and keep them on the task at hand. Can y’all do that?”
There’re still questions in their eyes, some more mutinous than others, but they quickly agree to his terms. After all, we can only handle one problem at a time and right now, the professor is the biggest one against us. I warned Rip that keeping secrets would come back to haunt him, but no matter what, I know in my gut that every single damn thing he does, is for the better of the club. He eats, sleeps, and breathes the Kings.
“We got your back, Rip,” I announce, stepping in front of him so all of their eyes swivel to me. “I’ve questioned you one too many times about keeping things from us, but since I haven’t walked a mile in your shoes, and since you’ve never given any one of us a reason to doubt you, I’ve got your back.”
I know I’m singing a different tune, but Rip put his foot up my ass earlier and reminded me about the sacrifices he’s made for us all. And that’s not something I take lightly. He’s gone above and beyond for every damn one of us. That’s something I want them to remember before they go off halfcocked and say something they’ll regret later on down the road.
