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“You’re calling because Alarick has asked you to,” I say to Waverly the next day after she has been blowing up my phone with calls.
I know Alarick would have asked her to call me. After he called me, Kendric called me, Samson called me, Briella called me—I guess he figured I wasn’t going to answer. He has gone to the next best thing, my sister. He knows I won’t ignore her calls, because I would be worried something has happened to her. He would be right. I wouldn’t ignore her calls, which makes this convenient for him.
“He told me what happened,” she exhales. “I’m sorry. It’s not cool at all.”
“That’s one way of putting it.”
“You have to know that after what happened with me that they’re extra cautious. It doesn’t make it any better, I know that, but it’s not because they don’t trust you. They don’t trust anyone.”
“Stop defending them, Waverly. I know exactly why they did it, but the fact of the matter is that they don’t trust that I can get information for them. They set me up because I wasn’t playing their game as quickly as they wanted. They used me to get the information they needed. I’ve been nothing but loyal to that club.”
“I know, I know you have. They need you though, Zariah. They are never going to get what they need without you.”
“That’s not my problem.”
“You like Kendric though ...”
I grit my teeth. I did tell her about Kendric, only briefly, but she can put two and two together.
“Kendric used me. He openly admitted to it.”
“He’s hurt, and he’s scared ...”
“Stop defending them, Waverly! Think for a god damned second how it made me feel to be fucked and used by a man who I’m trying to help, who I started to like and ...”
My voice cracks, and I force the tears threatening to burst forth back into their little cage. I clench my eyes shut, hold my breath, and do anything to make it go away.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize you were so hurt.”
“I’m not,” I mutter, my voice husky and broken. “I just need to get this finished so I can move on with my life away from them. I’m not going to let Kendric go to prison, I’m not a monster. I’ll find out what Blanche knows, but I’ll do it alone.”
“Honey, that’s not safe. It’s clear he’s dangerous. You’ll end up in trouble ...”
“I can handle myself.”
“Zariah ...”
“I have to go. Jayden is calling.”
I hang up the phone and feel immediately horrible about it. Maybe I am overreacting. Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on the club for protecting themselves. I know I’m scorned. I liked Kendric and to find out he was just using me feels like a knife to my heart. It really hurts me in a way I’ve not experienced before, and I don’t like it. At all.
I shouldn’t take that out on Waverly, but right now ... I just need to focus.
A knock at my door has me forgetting the phone call for a second. I can only guess it would be someone from the club, but I might be wrong. I walk over and peer through a window to see Reece out front. He’s got something in his hands, papers of some sort, and he’s standing, waiting. When I don’t open the door, he knocks again.
“It’s me, Zariah. I know you don’t want to see me, but I need to talk to you. It’s extremely important. I won’t hurt you. I’m not here to fight. Please, open the door.”
I go into my safe and grab my gun, shoving it into the back of my pants, and then I walk out and open the door to see Reece standing, his face quite sad. I feel bad for him, how can I not? I know he loves Jayden and not seeing him would be so hard on him. God, it would kill me if I couldn’t see him. Still, I have to stand my ground with this.
“Why are you here, Reece?” I ask.
“Listen, regardless of what went down last week, I know that you were doing the right thing for our son. I know that because I would do the same thing. You are right, I need help, serious help. I’ve spoken to a lawyer and had some plans drawn up. I’d like you to look at them and see if you’d be agreeable to the terms. I don’t want us to fight about this, I don’t want to have to go to court, but I do need my son, Zariah. I am dying without him.”
I take the papers and stare at Reece, shocked that he’s actually going about this the right way. I was certain that Tarryn would get in his ear and make him fight this tooth and nail. I guess he’s smarter than I thought because he has to know he’d lose if he fought me, and he isn’t going to risk his son like that.
“What are the terms?” I ask.
“I am getting help; you can see who with in the documents. I have a full treatment program and a doctor has put me on medication also. We will start with supervised visits with Jayden, a court appointed person will carry them out. We’ll be in a public place. Just a day together every Friday. Then, and only with the approval of a licensed professional, we will move to two days and then eventually I’ll take him back for my normal times with him staying at my house.”
I swallow, my stomach twisting.
“I know you’re anxious, I understand that. I won’t be able to take him without your approval and without being cleared by doctors and psychologists. If that takes years, it takes years. I’m going to do the work, I won’t hurt him, Zariah. I promise you I won’t hurt him. I just need you to give me a chance. Please, I’m dying without my son.”
I stare at the papers in my hands, then at the man standing in front of me. I’m not going to keep him away from his son forever, not when he’s working so hard to be a better person. His terms are fair, but I do need to get a legal check before I can give him an answer. “It sounds fair to me. Let me take it to my lawyer and have it signed off. I don’t want to keep you from your son, Reece. He loves you, and I know you love him. You have to understand, though, his protection means far, far more to me than anything. If he ever comes home and tells me you’ve hurt him, it’ll be over. Do you understand?”
Reece nods. “I do. Can I ... see him?”
I exhale, and then turn and call out Jayden’s name. He comes running after a few minutes and, when he sees Reece, his whole face lights up. “Daddy!” He runs toward him and throws himself into Reece’s arms. Reece holds him close, hugging him tightly and kissing his face. My heart breaks, because I want them to have all the time in the world together. I know they will again someday, but that time won’t be soon. It’ll be supervised for a while, but Reece is making the right choices.
Who am I to take that away from him?
Why do things always have to be so damned complicated?
~*~*~*~
“HOW ARE YOU?” STEVEN asks two days later when I go to his house to do some more work.
It’s hard. God, it’s so hard for me to stand here and stare at him, talk to him, interact with him, knowing full well the kind of criminal he is. He’s a dangerous man, mostly because he hides it so well. I want to just come out and ask him questions. I want to tell him I know what he’s done, but if I blow this now, it’ll be over for me and I can’t risk that.
The only way I’m going to get what I need is to play this very, very carefully.
“I’m good, how are you?”
He smiles. “Good. Ready to get back into the case?”
I nod and walk into the house and down to his office. He has it all set up, laptops out, coffee on the table, and it kills me that he’s so good at what he’s doing here. He doesn’t seem evil at all. Not even a tiny bit. That’s the thing that scares me the most. That he is so horribly clever. I take a seat and we get into the case, discussing new leads, interviews, and evidence. We talk for hours, going over things, and for a moment, I forget who I’m with.
I get so involved, it’s hard to remember that the man I’m sitting with is a monster.
This case, having the chance to work with him, it was a dream come true.
Now, it’s a god damned nightmare.
“I’ll go make us some lunch if you want to call a few people on our list and see if you can schedule some interviews,” Steven says, standing.
“Sounds great.” I give him a quick smile and start dialing some numbers on my phone.
He walks out of the room and, the moment he’s gone, I put my phone down and quickly glance at the door. Then I stand and rush around to his laptop. I know it’s far-fetched to assume he’d keep anything just lying around, but I also know he doesn’t think I’m suspicious of anything, so he no doubt assumes I won’t snoop. Why would I? If it were three days ago, I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t have even considered it.
Now here I am, quickly flicking through his computer like a fucking maniac. My heart is racing, my fingers are trembling, and I keep glancing at the door expecting him to be sitting there, about to catch me out in the act. I search some folders, a few emails, but so far I can’t find anything that indicates he’s in contact with anyone. I dig a little deeper and come across a folder titled SK. It’s not the sort of title I’d usually click on, but I’ve looked everywhere else.
I open it, and what I see rocks me to my very core.
My entire world starts to spin as I flick through photos, text messages, documents, emails, all from two people I never would have imagined could be involved in this. No. It can’t be possible, it simply can’t be possible. I feel sick to my stomach. My phone buzzes beside me, and I glance down to see Kendric on the other line. I have to warn him. I have to warn them all. Oh, god. If these two people are involved, then Steven knows we’re onto him.
They would have told him.
He knows.
Oh god.
He knows.
I have to get out of here. I close down the file and stand upright, answering the phone as I rush around the desk, heart racing, body thrumming with fear and panic. “Kendric,” I breathe as I slam my laptop shut and try to frantically shove it into the bag it was in. I need to get out of here, now. Right now.
“What’s wrong?” Kendric asks, hearing the fear in my voice.
“Steven knows I’m looking into him. He knows. I’m at his house. I’m trying to get out now.”
“How do you know he knows? Did he hurt you? Did he say something?”
“I know because I know who the rat is. The person feeding all this information. I know who it is, oh god. I need to get out of here.”
“Who is? Zariah, talk to me.”
“It’s ...”
Before I can finish my sentence, something hard is slammed over the back of my head. I fall to the floor and my phone skitters out of my hand and across the room. I cry out in pain and turn, only to be hit again, this time harder. My world starts spinning and everything begins to black in and out. I vaguely see Blanche standing above me, something hard in his hand. He looks down at me and growls, “You should have kept your nose out of this, Zariah.”
Then he hits me again.
And my world goes black.