Chapter

nswers. That’s what I’m hoping for. I need them. Even more than I need them, my girl needs them. She has been stuck in this perpetual limbo as a result of all of this. Zo has more questions than answers and doesn’t know how to handle all of this because of it. I’ve seen her lost in thought, trying to figure things out. I’ve seen the pain in her eyes when she thinks about the people she is supposed to call family. These are the people who are the reason behind her most recent pain and the fear that was brought along with it.

I see it. I don’t mention it to her, but I see it. I know for a fact that she is being mentally and emotionally tortured. There is nothing I can do about it. I’m hoping today I can bring her a bit of piece, give her some answers. We shall see.

We’re at Deck’s gym that he owns and operates with his team. I contacted Deck to see if he could find out anything on Sheridan. Zo was really beginning to worry despite reassurances that he was probably fine. In spite of everything we’d been told by the police, some part of her didn’t want to accept the facts as truth.

want everything in between. Her blood was spilled. I will have a pint of his spewed by the end of the night. You don’t get a one-off. Not tonight. She and that baby of yours have been in hell for a week. Seven fucking days.”

“Seven fucking ways ... to fuck with a person’s head,” Deck finishes for his father.

“Make sure my Zoie is secure. We’ll see about the rest. He and his son will know the pain I’ve felt.”

Ballistic chuckles as I stretch my fingers. Ellis smiles because he was there with me the day I tried to break my knuckles on Zoie’s father’s face. Having the knowledge that the dumbass had stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars in drugs and cash had me ready to kill.

“You stupid, fucking bastard. You stole from one of the most notorious criminals ever! Did you not expect ramifications or retribution for that asinine act? Would you have simply let the person go who was able to pull that shit off? How long?”

A bellow that sounds like a wounded animal has me quickly moving from the big man’s office and making my way to the command center. When I enter the room, I find Zo being forcefully led to a chair. She’s fighting Ellis and Jared as they try to move her away from the youngest member of the team, Davis. His eyes are wide. The fear is clearly written all over his face. It has me wondering what in the hell happened in the three minutes the two of us have been out of each other’s sight.

“Fuck you, Davis! That’s not true! It just isn’t true! It can’t be true!” she yells as tears freely fall down her face.

Looking back at Deck, I can clearly see that I’m not the only one trying to figure our what in the hell just happened.

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I’m still fight the two massive who have carted me away from my target. Tears are falling as I continue to fight. I want someone to be on the receiving end of the anger I’m feeling. I’m hurt and confused. There is a weight on my chest and it’s full of guilt, confusion, and heaping helping of pain. My mind is at war with itself.

One part is moving to accept this while the other doesn’t want to believe what I’m seeing. I’ve been trying my best to figure out what in the hell my brother had to do with Damien Foster. It all seemed wrong. Straight-laced, right-side-of-everything Sheridan didn’t run in the crowd that broke the law. He definitely wasn’t the type to put me in harm’s way. It didn’t matter how much he didn’t agree with my life choices. My brother just wasn’t the type. He knew exactly where I was. If he was really working with Damien, then why not hand me over? He knew when no one would be in our parents’ home. The opportunity was there. I didn’t buy the police’s theory that he was doing dirt with Ghost.

I see the moment he gets a clue, but it’s too late. The damage is done. I hate him for saying those things about my brother. My brother isn’t some common criminal.

Davis’ fingers are flying across the keys, but I know the reality I’m faced with well before he can garner proof. It’s not like I need it. I know my damned brother when I see him. His face is on the screen. A face that looks like one of those bodies from the morgue on any of the crime shows.

A fresh round of tears fall as I shake my head while looking at Deck, trying to silently convey the truth of my words. Swallowing the pain and clearing my throat, I share what most don’t know about my brother.

“His name is Sheridan Nicholas Watson. He used Nico Watts when he was in the ‘neighborhood’ because he claimed it made him sound more like one of the community. He always said Sheridan ... Sheridan Watson mad him sound like some upper crest bureaucrat that was definitely linked to ... my father.”

I have to sit down. As much as my brother pissed me off with his judgmental statements and opinions about my life, I would never have wanted this for him. I hate the fact that our last conversation was heated because he didn’t want to accept my child. We did tell each other that we loved one another, but ... now we won’t have the opportunity to make amends and fix our broken relationship. I sob again as I look at my brother’s lifeless form.

One of the guys waves his hand and the screen goes black. I’m grateful to that individual for the action. Trevor is now squatting in front of me. I wouldn’t allow him to do as he wanted which was lift me into his lap and surround me with his love. I don’t think I could handle that right now. It’s not a possibility for me until I get a different response. I know there is more to this than what everyone wants me to believe. Even my Trevor is pissed because he believes my brother to be a dickless, soulless asshole who would sell his sister out just to get ahead. As much as that was my initial reaction, some part of me knew better.

Sheridan was working with Damien. Gives him just enough information to get close to his sister but not enough to actually find her. He’s at the factory when Trevor confronts Damien. He’s caught in the crossfire. Turns out he was a CSI informant. Deck is pissed because he didn’t know an undercover was on sight.

- Initial reaction is everyone is pissed. Zoie is arguably hurt the most by the information. She’s the one who identifies Sheridan’s face when it is pulled up on one of the screens at the gym/office.

- Deck chews out Zander Collins, head of CIA.

I hear Deck take a call. When his words are growled and it’s obvious he is pissed, I turn my attention to him.

I look up at Tracker or Jared Black—one of Deck’s best friends and second in command with the team—for clarification. When I looked at Ellis, he looked just as confused as I am.

“We’re into something we’re not supposed to be in as far as the CIA is concerned.”

Davis’ head pops up and he fist pumps the air a second before he makes his way to where we’re standing. He keeps himself a safe distance away before sharing whatever he’s excited about.

It makes me smile slightly, which causes me to feel guilty in light of the news I just received. Trevor and Ellis catch me expression and I wave a hand dismissively. I’ll be fine. The tears are still flowing and I’m feeling kind of wobbly on my feet, but I need to know what the hell the file says.

“Aaannnnd that’s why boss man is on the phone with the CIA. Boy Wonder Jr. just hacked their system,” Ellis tells the group.

We all look at Davis. From the looks of things, I can see that he doesn’t enjoy being the center of attention. The other look I recognize is the unremorseful, rebellious nature of this twenty-year-old. For all of the maturity this kid practically floats on, there is a slight bit of immaturity still present.

“All right, Shadow. Gives us what you’ve learned before Collins and his team descend to blow smoke up our asses,” Deck tells the kid.

“Don’t sweat it, Kid. Give us the specs,” Tracker reassures him before Deck can speak.

Deck nods his head in agreement. Davis takes a deep breath before pulling up the necessary information and displaying it on all of the screens. The screens are suddenly flooded with files and files of information.

“Fucking hell!” Deck growls and I want to turn to face him but can’t because my eyes are glued to the screen. “I knew he was dancing around the truth. He was being ... yeah, Lucy, you got some fucking splainin’ to do! A worm in the fucking hidey hole?”

Inside I’m doing a little cheer because I knew I was right. Outside, I’m still devastated because my brother’s life was lost, and I have a feeling no one beyond the people in this room will ever know that he was doing something good.

“He’s been working with them for years. There’s numerous files here where Nico ... or Sheridan was the key to bringing in some heavy hitters. It says here he was providing intel to bring down this guy, Damien Foster. He’s the only person to ever get as close as he did with Damien. Apparently, Nico had just been given the details of all the locations to the inner workings of the ‘kingdom.’ He was given information no other person evidently knew, not even that Devon guy.”

“His son wasn’t trusted with the information to run the business, but my brother was?”

“For sure,” Deck stated as he picked up a tablet from one of the desks and began to sift through a few pages of one of the documents. After a few seconds, he shakes his head and chuckles as if he just heard his own words. “Your brother has been kicking ass and taking names for the CIA for a ... damn!”

“What? What’s going on?” I ask as I study the screen to see what he could’ve possibly been looking at that would cause him to respond the way he did.

“Why? What did you find? Honestly, there is a ton of shit that could be the reason behind it, but what are you looking at?”

“A file Nico kept on you. Trev man, if I didn’t know you, I’d be trying to figure out ways to bring you in for questioning. I’d want to pick your brain. The shit you’ve seen or been affiliated with would make me interested to know what you could tell me about some of the crime syndicates we’ve been trying to bring to a fucking end.”

“That’s a past life, Big Man. I jumped back in to get my girl and my daughter out. Still can’t believe her father was in the center of all of that shit and no one was the wiser.”

The entire time they’ve been talking, I’ve been reading. Trevor told me about his life and the stuff he used to do in order to keep food on the table for him, his mother, and his little brother. I know a lot about his history. It doesn’t stop my eyes from eating up everything I can on the screen. Learning about the family ties and the things his mother used to do gives me a better understanding of his relationship with his brother.

His mother, Ingrid McGee, is better now, but she was just as bad as some of the other people in that biker crew. She worked her way up in the food chain in order to get a taste of Damien’s balls. When she told me before she did a lot of things she wasn’t all that proud of, I didn’t think it could’ve been that bad. Seeing some of the ruthless things she had her hand in has me wondering how the sweet little lady who has my daughter could be the same person.

For that matter, the laundry list of crimes and misdemeanors listed in Trevor’s file has me swallowing hard. I can’t believe this loving, nurturing man is the same person know to the streets as Tag and his army buddies as