"Yeah. Then we got followed. Had to detour to the old Fuller warehouse. Four Vultures MC showed up. They're not showing up anywhere else."
Jesus Christ. He's talking about killing four men like it's nothing more significant than taking out the trash. And these men are nodding like it's a perfectly reasonable thing to report.
What kind of world have I stumbled into?
The white-bearded man—Reaper—approaches me slowly, like I'm a wild animal that might bolt. "What's your name?"
I glance at Blade, who gives a slight nod. Permission to speak, I guess.
"Kelly Stone," I answer, proud that my voice doesn't shake.
"And who were you supposed to marry, Kelly Stone?"
"Mike. He's one of Charles's lieutenants."
Reaper's eyebrows rise slightly. "Mike. Vicious bastard. How'd you end up engaged to him?"
The question is loaded with suspicion. I can feel Blade tensing beside me, his hand still on my back but no longer supportive. Now it feels like he could shove me forward or yank me back depending on my answer.
"My sister and I..." I swallow hard, trying to organize my thoughts. "We were in a group home after our parents abandoned us. When Amy turned eighteen, she aged out of the system. I was sixteen. She met some Vultures MC at a club, thought they were legitimate businessmen. By the time werealized what they really were, it was too late. They had her hooked on drugs and me..." I trail off, shame burning my cheeks.
"You what?" the quiet one—Ghost, I think Blade called him—prompts.
"I was stupid. I thought they actually liked me. They gave me nice things, told me I was beautiful. I'd never had that before." The words taste bitter. "Three months ago, they told Amy that Mike had chosen me to be his wife. She said it was an honor, that we'd be set for life. But last week, I overheard them talking about what would happen after the 'ceremony.' Mike was going to—" I stop, swallowing bile. "He was going to pass me around to his friends. Record it. Then he'd decide if I was 'worth keeping.'"
The room is silent when I finish. Reaper's expression hasn't changed, but something in his eyes has.
"So, you ran," he says finally.
I nod. "I tried to get Amy to come with me. She wouldn't. Said I was being ungrateful, that Charles protects us. She's been with them longer. They've done something to her mind, with the drugs and the..." I can't bring myself to say what else they might have done to my sister.
"And how do we know you're not working for them?" Ghost asks, his voice soft but dangerous. "Could be a trap. Wouldn't be the first time Charles sent a pretty girl to infiltrate an enemy."
"If I was working for them, why would they send four men to kill me?" I snap, fear giving way to anger. "I've been running for almost twenty-four hours in a fucking wedding dress. I watched this man—" I jerk my thumb toward Blade "—crush a man's windpipe and not even blink. I helped sink a car in a pond. You think I'd do all that as some elaborate setup?"
As soon as the words leave my mouth, I regret them. These men don't know me. They have no reason to trust me. And I just mouthed off to them like an idiot.
But to my surprise, Reaper's lips twitch in what might almost be a smile.
"She's got a point," he says to Ghost. Then to me: "But so does he. We're in the middle of a war with Charles. Trust doesn't come easy."
"I don't expect you to trust me," I say, suddenly bone-tired. "I don't trust you either. But I've got nowhere else to go, and your man killed four Vultures MC to keep me alive, so here I am."
Reaper studies me for a long moment, then nods. "Here you are."
He turns to Blade. "What else?"
Blade reaches into his pocket and pulls out two phones. "Took these off the Vultures MC. And this." He sets the laptop on the bar. "They were carrying about fifty grand in cash, too."
Ghost picks up one of the phones, turning it over in his hands. "Burners. Might be useful."
Reaper examines the laptop without opening it. "Could be nothing. Could be everything." He looks back at me. "Did you know they were carrying this?"
I shake my head. "I didn't know anything except that I needed to get away from them."
"And your sister? Where is she now?"
"At the compound, I think. It's a few hours from here. I don't know exactly where. They kept us blindfolded whenever we traveled."
