by Erin Trejo
“Tell me one member of the Soulless Bastards that don’t owe me one,” he laughs before the line goes dead. Mystic is the man we all go to when we need something found. If he can’t get it, no one can. I’ve always wondered about that man, but he is who he is and that’s something most of us don’t know about. He’s secretive and with good reason.
I’m about to take another pull from my bottle when Gauge walks into the room.
“You need to go down there and talk to her,” he says his voice too low for my liking.
“Not right now.”
“Yeah, right now. You need to hear what she has to say,” he adds.
“You talked to her?” He looks me in the eye and nods his head, a sick look crossing his face. “What’d she say?” He shakes his head while scratching at the back of his neck.
“Not shit I’m willin’ to repeat.”
“Are you fuckin’ with me here?”
“No. I’m not repeatin’ that shit, Prez! You need to talk to her.”
“Not with the mood I’m in I don’t. Give her a few days to make sure her story adds up with what she told you. I’m gettin’ outta here.” Shoving out of my chair, I head out of my office and past Gauge when he grabs my arm.
“This isn’t a fuckin’ game, Sly. You want to hear what she has to say.”
Fuck! Why is it always my luck?
Chapter Fifteen
I think I’ve been down here a few days. I don’t really know. I try to sleep through most of it, but Dez brings food and water down more than three times a day. I’m not sure why she stays when she does either. Like now.
“They didn’t have cells down here when I was a kid. I used to hate it down here,” she says looking around the basement. There’s only four cells like the one I’m in and I don’t need to wonder what they use them for.
“Why?”
“It was creepy. You know when you’re little and you would watch scary movies? You think the killer clown or some shit is out to get you? That’s what I thought of this basement,” she giggles.
“It’s not so bad.”
“You’re in a cell,” she reminds me with her eyes narrowed.
“I suppose that’s my own fault.”
“Gauge told me what you told him.”
“I figured he would,” I admit. Not that I care or expected anyone to believe me, but I offered that man the truth and let it go. Gauge hasn’t come back down here and neither has Sly. I guess my word doesn’t mean much to them in the long run. I can’t say that I blame them looking back on all of it.
“Is it true?” I nod my head slowly and take a drink of my water.
“All of it. I never wanted it to go down like this.”
“Is that what you told Gauge?” I hear his voice as Dez turns to look over her shoulder. Sly comes down the rest of the stairs and finally into view. He looks tired, worn out, and I can’t say that I blame him. Gauge said this was hitting him hard and I believed him to a point.
“I told him a lot more than that.”
He nods his head and looks to Dez. She looks back at me, giving me a small smile before standing and jogging up the steps. Sly walks over, taking Dezzy’s seat in the chair.
“They keep tellin’ me I need to hear what you have to say, but I don’t know that I want to.”
“Why not?”
“You don’t get it, Fab. I brought you here, I trusted you. I haven’t trusted a woman in a long fuckin’ time. Hell, I haven’t had feelin’s for a woman in years. Then you fall into my lap, and goddamn it I wanted it to be real.” His voice is as pained as the look on his face. It sends an ache through my chest, but I can’t fix that part of him.
“I was almost asleep when they called me to tell me my brother had been killed. I remember sitting on the edge of the bed in a daze. I thought maybe, just maybe, I was dreaming it. You know when you’re not fully asleep but not fully awake either? I thought that’s where I was. It wasn’t until Deb came into the room that I realized it was all real,” I admit to him. It killed me to tell Gauge but telling Sly? The man I’ve grown to care so much about? That’s like ripping a stake out of my bleeding heart.
“I don’t get what that has to do with us,” he says looking at me.
“I got another phone call, about two hours later. They said…” I choke on a sob wiping at my eyes. “They said your club may have been involved. I immediately called Mack. I didn’t want him in the middle of it for obvious reasons, but I asked him for help anyway. I wanted whoever was responsible for my brother’s death to pay for it. I didn’t care how it had to be done.”
“And he helped you find me?” I nod my head slowly.
“He gave me all the research I needed.”
“You knew we’d be at that rally,” he says softly.
“I knew. I didn’t know you’d come up to my table, but I figured that was a good place to start. I could get a feel for what you guys were like before I made any attempt to confront you.” Sly blows out a breath no doubt trying to keep himself under control right now.
“And I walked right into your trap.”
“It wasn’t like that. I mean it was at first.” I look away, unable to look him in the eyes.
“You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to look away now, Fab. Look at me and tell me,” he demands. Slowly I drag my eyes back to meet his.
“I wanted to hate you so badly. I wanted to make you all pay but I didn’t have any proof that it was you guys that did it. I had nothing. I needed proof.” He watches me but doesn’t say anything for a long second.
“Did you find it?”
“What?”
“The proof? Did you find it?” Shaking my head no, he looks away. His hand comes up to run down his face before scratching at the stubble on his jaw.
“You know we kill, Fab. I can’t even say that I knew nothin’ about your brother because I don’t know who he was. Sometimes it’s easier that way, ya know? Sometimes it’s not.”
“Christopher Evans,” I say softly, my heart falling in my chest. Sly’s eyes instantly mist up. His chest begins rising and falling rapidly. I narrow my gaze at him and stand from the cot, moving closer to the edge of the cell. “You know who he was?”
Sly shakes his head, swallowing hard. He moves to stand, grabbing the keys from his pocket and unlocking the cell door. In seconds he’s inside with me, grabbing my wrist and pulling me out behind him.
“Sly? What the hell is going on?” He doesn’t speak as he drags me up the stairs and shoves the door open. The guys all stop what they’re doing and look over, but no one moves to ask. I’m confused when Dez walks up.
“What’s happening? Dad?”
Sly’s grip tightens as he stops walking and looks around at everyone.
“She’s gotta go,” he says, sounding hoarse. I don’t understand this. He kept me down there for days and now he’s throwing me out?
“What do you mean? You were hell bent on her stayin’,” Shaft says looking to Sly for an answer.
“Yeah, now I want her gone!” he roars before shoving me toward the door. I don’t go, not right away anyhow.
“What did I say?” Sly won’t look at me. Instead he has his hands on his hips, head tipped back looking at the ceiling. He’s lost and I hate it for him.
“Get out, Fabiola.” The tone of his voice unnerves me.
“No. Talk to me.”
“Get the hell out of here!”
Chapter Sixteen
They say it doesn’t take much to break a man. She did it, though. She broke me with those words. Two fucking words tore me apart. I couldn’t look at her after that. I didn’t want to. She ripped my goddamn soul out.
“You sure you wanna do this?” Shaft asks. I eye him for a minute until he laughs and backs off. We stand outside the bank that we’ve been casing for a while now, ski masks in place. I need an outlet. I needed something I wasn’t getting. The adrenaline rush that I missed with her. I hate that it has to be this way, but I can’t face her.
/>
“Let’s move on three. We get in, we get out,” I say as I glance around at the guys. They all nod, guns in hand. I raise my hand and count down with my fingers until I hit three. Then we all move. We storm the front door quickly, not many people inside.
“On the ground! Now!” I roar as the guys move through the space. The few people inside drop to the floor like they were told. Shaft, Gauge, and the prospects move around to the tellers as I watch the door. Wolf waits outside in the van for us. I watch the guys as they move effortlessly filling the bags. They know the drill. Don’t let them pull from the right clip. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a man slowly shifting. I keep watching, pretending I’m not, when I see the gun in the back of his waistband. He slowly reaches for it when something hits me. He must be undercover. Visions of Chris flash in front of my eyes. It takes seconds for the man to pull his gun and fire in my direction. The burn hits me but I never actually snap out of it. More shots fire off, screams blast through the room.
“You hit?” I hear Gauge call out. I know he’s talking to me, but I’m stuck in a haze of the past and the future that I fucking took from Chris.
“Let’s move!” Shaft’s voice filters in but my feet stay planted in the same place as they have been. I can vaguely feel hands tugging at me, pulling me from the bank before I’m shoved into the back of the van. My body aches but I can’t move. What the hell did I do? He was a good man. I killed him.
“Sly?” Gauge says my name once more, but I can’t look at him.
“I fuckin’ killed him, brother. I killed my best friend.”
“What the hell are you talkin’ about?” Shaft asks.
“He’s losin’ a lot of blood!” Gauge calls out. “Get his ass to the hospital back home!” I can feel the van accelerate as my eyes slowly flutter.
“Stay awake, Sly! You didn’t come this far to die on us!” Ignoring Gauge’s words, I focus on her instead. Those dark eyes, those full lips, the way she smiled at me. I can almost feel her lips touching mine.
“Sly?” Gauge’s voice again. Slowly everything fades. The voices get farther away when I see her.
“What the hell are you doin’ here?” I ask when Shelby comes into view. She looks just like she used to when she was younger,when I thought I actually cared for her.
“What’s wrong? Don’t recognize the devil when you see her?” she asks raising an eyebrow.
“You ain’t shit. You’re dead. What the hell is happenin’?” I look around but all I see is darkness.
“You’re dead, idiot.”
“Like fuck I am. Where the hell am I?”
“Hell. Welcome home,” she snickers.
“This isn’t hell.”
“Then why do you think I’m here? You’re technically dead, Sly. Come look,” she says nodding over her shoulder.
I take a step, but I don’t even feel my legs. It’s the strangest feeling but I move toward her anyway. Just as I step up, I see a window. When I look through it, I gasp. It’s me. The guys are all around me screaming and hollering but I can’t hear what they are saying. Blood drips onto the floor as the doctors wheel me into a room. I’m so confused. I don’t know what I’m seeing.
“What the fuck is this?” I ask more to myself, but that bitch answers me.
“Your death. Isn’t it brilliant? I waited a long time to see that shit,” Shelby says as I look over my shoulder at her.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means you. Are. Dying. Understand? We all have a fate, Sly. You sent me to mine and now I can watch as you fall into yours. Did you really think you could get rid of me that easily? We are one and the same, baby. Both born and bred from the pits of hell. Look at us now!” She cackles, pissing me off a little more.
I turn back to take in the scene that’s playing out behind the window. Gauge has his hand on Shaft’s shoulder, a tear in his eyes. What the hell? Glancing down at the bed, I look…dead. Blood pools on the floor under the gurney. I didn’t think that bullet hit me anywhere vital.
“You can always go back.” Spinning around, I come face to face with Chris.
“What the hell?”
“The irony,” he chuckles.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“Why not? You think I was a good man?” he questions.
“Yeah, you were!”
“I know, I’m just fucking with you man. I’m not really here per se. Look, I get it, Sly, but you can’t blame yourself. You were doing what you do. It doesn’t matter now. It’s over.”
“I killed you. My fuckin’ neglect killed you!”
“It wasn’t your neglect. You couldn’t have known. No one did. Stop blaming yourself.”
“I ruined everything.”
“She needs you.”
“What?” I ask him confused.
“Fab needs you. She can’t go through life without you. They are going to come after her.”
“Who? Who’s coming after her?” I nearly beg him for information, but he slowly fades into the darkness that now surrounds me.
“Chris!” I call out for him, but I can’t see him. Slowly a fire begins to burn in the middle of the room. It starts out small but slowly begins to build, becoming larger and higher. I can feel the heat almost as if it’s scalding my skin.
“Chris?” I ask once more when something sharp rips through my chest. I look down but there is nothing there. Then I feel it again but like the first time, there is nothing there.
Chapter Seventeen
“Ugh!” I scream loudly as I throw the leather across the room. Deb watches me intently, but she doesn’t say anything. I pick up another piece and begin to knot it to the others when I just can’t. Tears build in my eyes when I hear the knock on the door. Deb moves to answer it as I rest my head in my hands.
“Who the hell are you?” Instantly, my eyes move across the room to see a tall man in a suit.
“We’re here to talk to Fabiola Watson.”
“Yeah and I asked who you were,” Deb says once more.
“I’m Agent Simmons from the FBI.”
“What do you want?” I ask moving into his line of sight. The man looks at me strangely before clearing his throat.
“Miss Watson, I wanted to ask you a few questions about Mack Montgomery.” My chest deflates at his words. Have they found his body? Did they know that Sly did it?
“What about him?”
“May I come in?” he asks.
“No. You can ask all your questions from right there.” I’m not stupid. I know better than to let another cop into this house. I learned my lesson the hard way.
“When is the last time you spoke to Mack?” I nearly roll my eyes. They are the FBI they should know this.
“I don’t really know. It’s been awhile.”
“About how long?” he asks once more, no doubt getting tired of me edging around his question.
“Months? Years? It’s hard to say.”
“Miss Watson, he has gone missing. There have been no pings on his cell phone, and he hasn’t called in. We know he was on a case that somehow involved you. No one at his precinct is willing to discuss it.”
“And that’s my problem? I don’t know where Mack is, and honestly? I don’t care,” I add crossing my arms over my chest. At least Sly was efficient in making Mack disappear.
“You were involved with a case, right? Let me see, Soulless Bastards?”
Shit! How much does he actually know?
“I was helping him, but we didn’t turn up anything and he went on his way. I haven’t talked to him since the last time he came by here.”
“Would you mind making a statement?”
“Yes, I mind. Now if you are done questioning me, I have work to do,” I snap at him. Why? I don’t know. Why am I not turning Sly and his club in for killing Mack? Another thing I don’t know. I’m so confused and upset, maybe hurt more than anything. I don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong anymore.
“If you remember anyth
ing, here’s my card,” he says, passing me the card he just pulled from his pocket. I nod my head and watch Deb close the door behind him.
“What the hell was that?”
“I don’t know.”
“You haven’t heard from Mack at all?” I shake my head. I don’t want to lie to her, but she also doesn’t know the full story of what happened between Sly and me. I didn’t want to tell her that he kept me hostage in his basement. I couldn’t face her. “This is a big shit show. Wonder whose bed he found his way into this time,” she mumbles under her breath. I giggle and go back to the table to grab my phone and keys.
“I need to go out for a bit. Need anything?”
“No, I’m good!” I head outside and straight to the car. I start it up and take a deep breath before shifting into drive. I don’t know if I should be doing this. I shouldn’t go back over there, but at the same time, I can’t let him take the fall for Mack. I don’t condone killing but Mack wasn’t the best person in the world anyway. My feelings are torn, all over the place. The man is a killer and yet I can’t help but feel drawn to him.
The drive to the clubhouse doesn’t take as long as it should. I haven’t even had time to think or come up with what I’m going to say to him. I don’t know that I can handle seeing him and not demanding answers for what happened the last time I was here. Nevertheless, I park the car and climb out, walking up to the front door. My heart beats wildly in my chest, but before I can raise my hand to the open it, it flies open.
“What the hell are you doin’ here?” My mouth opens and closes but no words form. My chest aches, the familiar scent that lingers in the clubhouse bringing back too much all at once.
“I need to talk to Sly.”
“No, you don’t. What do you want, Fabiola?” Gauge asks, his eyes harsh.
“The FBI came to my house. They are looking for Mack.”
“What the fuck did you tell them?” he growls stepping into my space. I shake my head and wrap my arms around myself.
“I didn’t tell them anything. I told them I hadn’t talked to him in a while, but he knew that I was involved in a case with him.” Gauge cocks his head to the side, daring me to say it. To finish that sentence.
