TANGLED SECRETS (A Devil Call MC Book) (Talon & Everly Book Eight)

by Ana W. Fawkes

  “You tell me,” Layne said. “They stormed the hospital like there was a bomb call or something. Took us all down and here we are.”

  One of the officers pulled a gun and kept it on me.

  The other officer started to walk back and forth. “None of this is personal. Strictly business. We have to keep you guys back and under control. So you’re not more of a threat than normal.”

  Buzzy let out a laugh. “You think some cuffs are going to calm us down. You dumb fuck.”

  The officer turned and nodded. He took out a club and ran at Buzzy, ramming it into his gut. Buzzy instantly fell to his knees. The officer then brought the club down on his back… once… twice…

  I lunged forward and kicked at the officer’s leg, hitting him in the side of the knee. He fell and from the corner of my eye I saw another officer coming at me, swinging his weapon. I ducked and rammed my shoulder into his stomach. He flew back but two more officers were right there to start attacking me with guns and fists.

  I stumbled back to the wall and one of the officers had his hand to my neck.

  As I stared at the guy, eyeing up and down, I realized this was all bullshit. The badge was fake. The clothing fake. Everything was fake. They weren’t officers. They weren’t enforcers of the law I refused to live by.

  “Do it,” I growled. “Kill me.”

  The guy gritted his teeth and one of the others grabbed him and pulled him away.

  “Hey, we don’t kill,” he said. “We don’t kill.”

  The officer started to turn and Layne rushed forward and slammed his head into the side of the guy’s face. The thudding of their skulls made my stomach turn. Layne was fine, but the officer went to the ground, knocked out cold.

  “Holy shit!” the other guy yelled and Layne was on him next.

  Another fight broke out. It was damn impossible to win the fight since our hands were all cuffed, but we all stuck it out. Through shoulders and kicks, using our heads. Fucking Buzzy got to his feet and bit into one of the guy’s necks and ripped him open.

  We all knew these guys were fakes.

  Luckily, nobody pulled their fucking trigger. The guns started to drop as fast as the guys did. And when the guns hit the ground, we made sure to kick the weapons out of the way.

  There were two guys left standing to the seven of us.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “Back the fuck up,” one of them said, trying to be tough.

  “If you wanted to kill me, you would have by now,” I said. “So talk now.”

  “You took our job,” the other said. “We protected Vaughn and Jade. Their security and enterprise. You took it all down. You took our jobs. You took our lives.”

  Now there was silence.

  My head spun, trying to figure out what Detective John had to do with all this right now.

  “You were running security for drug scums and you’re mad at us?” I asked.

  The both of them swallowed hard.

  “I can’t speak to that,” the first one said. “We were in charge of their real estate, securities, and other projects. Certain things we were not allowed to go near.”

  “We have no recollection of drugs…”

  I threw my shoulder forward. I had enough of the bullshit corporate speak right now. I hit the first guy in the mouth. He flew back and smashed against the window. The thud was pretty sick sounding and the guy went down, leaving a greasy mark on the window.

  Now it was just one guy left.

  He put his hands up and dropped his gun. “Holy fucking shit. I didn’t sign up…”

  “Why are you here?” Layne asked.

  “The detective. Tracked us down and offered us side private help. We’re going to be part of an undercover team. We were told to cuff you all and keep you contained while he speaks to a suspect.”

  “A suspect?” Layne asked.

  Everly…

  “I need out of these,” I said. “Right the fuck now.”

  “You heard the man,” Layne said. “Don’t make us kill you.”

  The guy took out a set of keys and started to take off our cuffs. Buzzy, Drave, Layne, then me. The second I was free Layne turned and punched the guy in the stomach, taking him to the ground. All around us there were bodies. A couple of them knocked out. The rest bleeding and in pain, knowing better than to stand back up.

  Now we took out our guns to keep control the fucking situation.

  I looked at Layne. “This is out of control. All of it.”

  “I know. Time to…”

  I didn’t let Layne finish. If I kept standing there with him we would have picked up where our fight left off. I was the bigger man and got the fuck out of there.

  Plus, I had to get to Everly.

  I didn’t trust Detective John. I never had in my life… and he was making it so much easier to come up with a plan to kill him.

  10.

  (Everly)

  I shook away Detective John’s hand. He moved it to the bed, but then a second later tried touching me again. I kicked at him, keeping a defiant look on my face. Truthfully I felt weak. I felt used up and just… tired. So damn tired. Of everything. I started to understand Talon’s position and feelings in all this. The reason why he felt he had to attack and kill. Because by killing it took people away that would hurt him. Hurt me. Hurt us.

  Even after seeing the horrifying sight of bullets tearing through skull and brains, spraying it everywhere, I still had the image of Detective John dead. But that wouldn’t happen. He wasn’t some biker enemy. He was a sworn in member of the law. He had his own protection, no matter what.

  He slid his hand away and let out a small laugh. “You’re something special.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I heard about what happened,” he said. “Christ, Everly, are you okay?”

  “You came here to arrest Talon to ask me that?”

  Detective John smiled. “Not just Talon. I have a group of men helping me. They got the entire MC cuffed out there. Well, whoever was here. They’re the reason I’m here. My new help, I should say. Trying to work out some deal with them. Keep them undercover. Tell them they’re protected when they’re not. I just need information. I need to settled all these storms. So I can take care of things. Take care of Talon. Take care of you.”

  He put his fucking hand to my leg again and I didn’t fight him away this time. “Take care…”

  “Talon goes to prison where he can rot and die. And you end up in my arms where I can keep you safe.” He leaned in. “And when I get you pregnant, it will stick. I’m healthy, you know? I can… really make it work.”

  My stomach felt sick. The thought of Detective John touching me…

  “You’re a sick man,” I said. “You’re messing with…”

  “I get it. I’m messing with fire. The wrong people. I watched Talon and Layne grow up. You think I don’t know they’re out there fighting their way out of those cuffs? You think I don’t know they probably have all my new friends on the ground? Some bleeding, some knocked out, but none of them dead. They’re too smart for that. I know that. I’m not an idiot. I watched those two assholes grow up causing trouble and going right for the throat of trouble. Fuck them. I’m here to talk to you. About you. Find out what you know.”

  “I don’t know anything,” I said. “You know my answer. It’s simple. I just had a fucking miscarriage and you’re here to bother me?”

  “If I say the name… Jade…”

  I swallowed. Fuck, I tried to hold it back. I felt heat rush to my face. I held myself still, but I gave it all away.

  Fuck.

  “Exactly,” he said. “What does that name mean to you?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “She fucked… well… Talon fucked her. Right? She was the one who owned the building and lot where Talon killed Tommy. So he fucked her to keep her from giving me the video? But then he killed her, right?”

  “No,” I said. “You’re wrong.”


  “Wrong? I thought you didn’t know her. How could you think I’m wrong?”

  “Talon didn’t kill…”

  “Oh, Christ, give it up, Everly. You were there when he killed Tommy. That puts you in trouble along with him. I can help you claim some kind of forced innocence. But this thing with Jade… oh, and her brother, Vaughn…”

  I felt sweat collecting at my forehead. I was shaking. Fucking shaking now.

  “I don’t feel well,” I said. “I’m going to call the nurse for medication.”

  Detective John opened his coat and took out a gun. That made me freeze up. He put the gun on my leg and left it there.

  “I’m not here to strong arm you,” he said. “I don’t want you hurt. I want you saved. I want you happy. But the investigation I’m part of… well… I know the last person Jade talked to when alive was you.”

  “That’s a lie,” I said.

  “It’s not. I guess technically the last person was the man who murdered her. Shot in the head. You know the name Jack, right? Second in command for Rilen Lost. Was going to take over after the murder of Jony.”

  Everything was twisted together, probably not the way Talon and Layne had wanted it to be. Just too many pieces of the puzzle they were trying to juggle and it was all crumbling.

  “So I want to know the connection. The truth. Talon fucked this woman. She calls you. Then she’s murdered. Her brother is murdered. Rilen Lost is almost taken apart. And it all falls on them to take care of the bodies. Yet Jade and Vaughn’s security team is with me… dumber than rocks… probably half dead out there… it’s all fascinating to me.”

  “What am I supposed to say?” I asked. “I can’t help who calls me.”

  “What did she fucking say?”

  “She was kidnapped by Jony and Jack. And Vaughn blamed Devil Call for it. That’s how we got dragged into it.”

  Detective John stood up and grabbed his gun. “You just said… we.”

  “Yeah?”

  “You say it as though you’re a patched in member of the MC. As though you’re as guilty as they are. You realize, Everly, that I can only help you so much in all this.”

  “I never asked for your help.”

  “I know,” he said. “But I’m here to help you. Because you’re beautiful and deserve a good life.”

  “I have one.”

  “Masked with bloodshed and murder. Who the fuck killed Jade? Vaughn? Where the fuck did it all come from? And why the fuck are federal agents targeting the group Los Ahn more than ever now?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t…”

  “Of course you don’t.”

  “Get out of here.”

  “What are you going to do? Call the police?”

  “You think you know so much,” I said. “So why keep harassing us? Why keep after us? Why not just do something?”

  “Because my son is good at what he does,” Detective John said. “There’s evidence but not enough. It’s circumstantial and it would never hold up in court. Plus, I know everyone has skeletons in their closet, including me. So without the smoking gun or blood on his hands…”

  “You’re fucked,” I said.

  “I’m fucked.”

  “So then leave.”

  “Jade and Vaughn were powerful people,” Detective John said. “But their death has come with a sense of relief. They grew an empire on lying, cheating, and deceit. And in the background of it all was a massive drug operation that’s being stripped down.”

  “Seems to me you should be thanking whoever did this,” I said. “They did the job you and the rest of the authorities couldn’t do.”

  “Exactly,” he said. “I want to thank Talon, Layne, the entire MC. That’s why I need the truth.”

  I laughed. “You think I’m going to fall for that?”

  “Smart. So smart. I just can’t believe the woman Talon fucked called you. She felt comfortable enough to call you. While she was held captive? And you did nothing to help her, Everly. I bet you told her to fuck off and die, didn’t you?”

  “No. Not at all.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “So what did you talk about?”

  “She asked me to help her,” I said. “I told her to tell me where she was. She tried to describe it and then someone came into the room and broke the phone. I assume now it was Jack. He wanted her, hurt her, and he must have killed her.”

  “Wow, that’s some detective work,” Detective John said. “Especially for someone that doesn’t know a thing. So you’re a liar, Everly. Lying to me. The one person who can help you.”

  Detective John wasn’t going to win this. I shook my head. “I don’t care. If you’re not here to arrest me, then leave. I don’t feel good.”

  “I’m really sorry about what happened,” he said. “The baby. My grandchild.”

  My blood boiled over. Before I knew what I was doing, my feet were swinging off the bed. I tried to stand and was shaking. My legs were tired, my belly still a little sore.

  “Never!” I screamed. “You never get to say that!”

  I got to my feet and had no idea what I was going to do if and when I got to Detective John.

  He put a hand out and said, “Take it easy now. Don’t hurt yourself any more than you are. And any more than Talon is going to hurt you. You have a long road ahead of you, Everly. You decide how it ends up. In this life… murder… or in my life and world. Protection. Law. Right from wrong.”

  “Leave,” I said. “Just go. You have no idea what you’re doing or what you’re talking about.”

  “I do,” Detective John said. “That’s the thing. I’m right there on it all.”

  He turned and opened the door. It started to close behind him and I felt my heart sink. My emotions, my hormones, everything was a giant ball of knots. I sat on the edge of the bed and started to cry.

  A few seconds later, the door opened and Talon came into the room. He dropped to his knees and touched my waist.

  “What did he do to you?” he asked.

  “Nothing,” I said. “Talon, he just knows everything. So much.”

  “Fuck, beautiful. Don’t let him get to you.”

  “He knows Jade called me. He knows Jony, Jack, everything. The people with him… he’s using them. He told them they’re protected, and they’re not… he’s…”

  Talon stood up a little and kissed me. He shut me up again with his sexy and powerful mouth. The kiss was intense and hot. He pressed at me, easing back down on the bed. Hovering over me, kissing me into a romantic and hot oblivion. I was achy and throbbing, a weird mix of feelings between my legs.

  But I needed Talon.

  I loved him… and I couldn’t imagine losing him.

  The kiss broke and Talon rested his forehead against mine. “Beautiful…”

  “I just want it to all end,” I whispered. “So we… we can really begin.”

  “Soon,” Talon said. “I promise. Soon.”

  I wasn’t sure if I believed him or not. So I put my hand behind his neck and made him kiss me again.

  It was the only time I felt alive and safe.

  11.

  (Talon)

  When I opened the clubhouse door and helped Everly through, the place lit up with cheers. The rest of the MC had been in the clubhouse, waiting for her. I had no idea they were doing this for Everly. She took a few steps and then covered her mouth. She looked back at me and I started to clap.

  The guys held up beers, whiskey bottles, and shot glasses. They cheered and took a drink to Everly. It was some drunk biker bullshit, but it was kind of a big deal. A real honor to have. Only patched in members got a warm welcome back to the clubhouse after an injury. And even then, it was rare to happen. Fuck, I didn’t get any welcoming party when I showed up bloody or bruised.

  But Everly did.

  Because they all knew just how goddamn tough she was.

  I put a hand to her back and whispered into her ear. “Yo
u’re the queen of this castle, beautiful. Take it in pride and use it.”

  Everly sucked in a breath and nodded. She didn’t speak a word as we walked by everyone. Even fucking Layne was standing there, at the meeting room door, holding a bottle of beer out, nodding to Everly.

  I looked at him and nodded. I mouthed to him… It’s fucking time… but it was the truth. There was no more wasting time if he and I wanted to end up in a death match and kill each other, that was one thing. Fair enough. But after what Detective John did and proved himself to be, that was it. Either Layne could be with me or against me.

  Before all that heavy talk though, I wanted to get Everly in bed and get her to rest. She had just gotten off bed rest after getting shot in the leg. And now here she was, hurt again. But this was something so completely different. Yet it tore me up so bad. To think of her living that high of seeing a piss stick saying she was pregnant… then living it all alone.

  I swear, I tried to suck in the anger, but it would never happen again like that.

  This was all or nothing. No in between bullshit.

  I got to the room and reached for the door as Everly did. My hand clamped over hers and I kept it there.

  She looked at me. “What?”

  “I need to get it off my chest,” I said.

  “What?”

  “All or nothing, beautiful. You and me. Right now. I can’t ever have this shit happen again with me not knowing. I can respect it and love you for not wanting to add to the bullshit in my life. I mean that. But you’re not bullshit, Everly. You’ve never been bullshit. From the second I figured out who you were… what just happened out there with those guys clapping for you. That’s respect. You’re the queen, like I said. That means you never go at it alone. Ever.”

  Everly swallowed as tears filled her eyes. “Talon…”

  “I just want to cross this threshold with you, beautiful. With a sense of understanding. Your feelings are not bullshit. Your pain is not bullshit. Anything you have I want. Good or bad.”

  She nodded and I opened the door.

  We went into the room and I rushed in front of her to get the bed organized. I helped her down, even though she didn’t need it. In fact, she was the toughest woman I ever met. I could tell by the look in her eyes she didn’t want to rest or sleep. But she knew better than to fight me on this.