"Good. She seems like one of the good ones, even if she's mixed up with the wrong crowd." Harrison starts his engine. "Take care of yourself, Devil. And remember - kids are dying. Whatever else is going on, that has to come first."
As he drives away, I'm left standing in the empty field next to the barn, the weight of his words settling over me like a shroud. Kids are dying. Fentanyl-laced weed is making its way through the high school, and all signs point back to The Rebels. No matter what, it's going to include Saint's Outlaws too. To the family I've spent years becoming a part of. To the woman I've fallen in love with.
I think about Dani, about the way she looked this morning when I left the house. She'd stood up on her tiptoes and kissed me with the abandon I've come to expect from her. She trusts me, relies on me, and I'm about to betray that trust. Once I start questioning Keegan, this is going to move quickly, I know it like I know the tattoos on my chest.
But then I think about some teenager lying in a hospital bed, fighting for his life because he thought he was just smoking a little weed. I think about his parents, sitting beside his bed, not even knowing their kid was using drugs. I think about the next kid who might not be so lucky.
Chief's right. Kids are dying. And no matter how much I love Dani, no matter how much I've come to care about The Saint's Outlaws, I can't let that continue.
I pull out my phone and check the time. School will be out soon. I need to figure out how to approach Keegan, how to get the information Harrison needs without destroying everything I've built.
The badge feels heavy in my wallet, and the Saint's Outlaws patch on my cut seems to burn against my chest. Two loyalties, two families, two sets of responsibilities that are pulling me in opposite directions.
I start my bike, the engine's roar drowning out the conflict in my head for just a moment. But as I pull out onto the main road, heading toward the garage, I know that this conversation with Keegan is going to change everything. One way or another, the delicate balance I've been maintaining is about to come crashing down.
And I still don't know which side I'm going to land on when the dust settles.
Chapter 20
Dani
"How's school going?" I ask Allison as we slip into the pool.
"These teenagers are on my nerves," she laughs, groaning as she throws her head back.
She came over as soon as school let out today. Within minutes we were in bikinis with margaritas in our hands, and trying to get rid of the stresses of our days. Mine dealt with driving out to my greenhouse, and while I wasn't able to get out of my car, I was able to at least get out there.
Allison though, she's been dealing with some problem students since the school year started.
The cool water feels amazing against my heated skin, and I let out a content sigh as I wade deeper. The late afternoon sun catches the surface of the pool, creating dancing patterns of light that remind me why I asked Devil to put the pool in at the clubhouse after we got married. Well, that and the fact that it's far enough from town that we can have some privacy when we need it.
"Want to talk about it?" I ask, settling onto the pool steps with my drink. The tequila burns just right going down, and I can already feel some of the tension from today starting to melt away.
Allison floats on her back, her auburn hair fanning out around her like a halo. "There's this one kid in particular – Logan Matthews. He's a senior, should be graduating this spring, but honestly? I don't know if he's going to make it at this rate."
"What's he doing?"
She flips upright, treading water as she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. Her easy smile isn't as easy as it was earlier today. "It started small, you know? Little comments here and there. Looking good today, Miss Roberts. That dress really shows off your figure. Things that could maybe seem innocent if you brush it off and pretend teenage boys aren't exactly what they are."
My stomach clenches. I've heard stories like this before, and they never end well. "But it's gotten worse?"
"Much worse." Allison swims over to grab her margarita from the pool's edge. "Last week he stayed after class, supposedly to ask about an assignment. But when I turned around from the whiteboard, he was right there. Close enough that I could smell whatever cheap cologne he'd doused himself in that morning."
"Jesus, Allison."
"He said something about how he'd always wondered what it would be like to be with an older woman. Someone with experience." She shudders. "The way he was looking at me... it made my skin crawl."
I feel a familiar rage building in my chest – the same protective instinct that flares whenever someone I care about is threatened. "Have you reported him?"
"That's the problem. He's smart about it. Never says anything when other students are around, never puts anything in writing. It's always just him and me, and when I've tried to bring it up with the administration, they want concrete evidence. They're afraid he'll turn it around as me coming on to him, and I'm scared of that too, honestly." She's quiet, inhaling deeply.
"What about security cameras?" I ask, trying to think of a way to help her.
She shakes her head. "Not in the individual classrooms. Budget cuts, you know?" Allison takes a long sip of her drink, and I can see the frustration written all over her face. "And it's not just the inappropriate comments. I think he's using something."
"Drugs?" I raise my eyebrows, looking over my sunglasses.
"His behavior is so erratic. One day he's practically falling asleep at his desk, the next he's bouncing off the walls, talking a mile a minute. His pupils are often dilated, and he's lost a noticeable amount of weight since the beginning of the calendar year." She stops for a second. "When I was in college, I worked as registration at Laurel Springs Medical, and I saw it a lot. But he's so young…"
