Duplicity (Victory Lap Book 2)

by Mercedes Jade

  “Dad, we need you now,” Keir whispered.

  It didn’t have to be louder to be heard in the silence of the van.

  Kade

  “The Wolf is with Jensen. They’re responsible for Mom’s death.”

  Kade was whispering, just like Keir.

  He’d said it. That was what mattered.

  He’d stopped taking the blame.

  “I thought you had amnesia of the accident?” Dad whispered back.

  Someone honked at them, went around.

  “Jensen left something to help jog my memory that can’t be erased,” Kade admitted.

  He crawled forward, between the two front seats, flipping his hair over his head and baring his neck.

  To properly show the brand he’d woken up in the hospital bearing, he had to pull the collar of his shirt down.

  Rough, ridged skin met his fingertips.

  He’d known where the mark was without needing to feel.

  He saw it in his nightmares.

  Imagined his mother, bleeding from a scalp wound, dazed as she helplessly watched Jensen wrench his head to the side and brand him with that cigarette lighter. She’d say his name, tell him to be strong.

  He’d wake up remembering it couldn’t be a real memory.

  The crash had stolen those from him.

  Dad felt the brand, so softly it almost tickled. His fingers were hesitant, as if he’d smudge what memory Kade had by his touch.

  “They lost a large shipment of cocaine,” Dad whispered.

  “Bastion had the drugs. He got rid of the coke after we came back from the island,” Kade said, straightening back up. “You’re his lawyer if that comes out later.”

  Dad nodded, surprisingly.

  “He took it from under the driver’s seat. Kade was in a coma in the hospital. I didn’t know enough to realize there was anything left in the wreck. Evidence of a crime. Bastion did it without asking because he’s our friend,” Keir said.

  His brother was done whispering.

  “Does the girl know?” their father asked.

  “Tess,” Kade corrected. “Yes, she figured most of it out on her own. Smart as a whip like you noted.”

  Dad leaned back in his chair with a dark chuckle.

  “Hana would have loved Tess. It’s why I agreed to the tutoring. Five months of you not giving a shit about anything, and suddenly, you pulled out all the case-presenting tricks I taught you just to get a date with a girl. I knew she was special to you. Hana and I fell in love at first sight. You just know.”

  “We can’t let her get hurt, Dad,” Kade said.

  He was begging for help.

  Pleading for understanding.

  “What do you want me to do, Kayden?”

  “Tess is wearing a wire. We didn’t plan for her to have to use it, but we wanted to be ready anyway. If you listen to the feed, it could help us decide the right moment to call the cops.”

  “Now is the right moment,” Keir said before their father could answer.

  “Bastion is with her,” Kade reminded him.

  “Is War in on your plot as well? I can’t believe his mother allowed this, or his father. This is reckless. All of you could be hurt!” Dad said, displaying some of the fire he’d been known to deliver in his closing remarks.

  “Killed,” Kade agreed.

  Dad took that remark hard. He unbuckled, shoved his seat back and turned around to face both of his sons.

  “Hana didn’t have anything to do with Jensen or drugs. She gambled, yes, but I always covered her debts. Whatever made one of them plant drugs in my car, I know it was just an awful coincidence your mother drove it that night.”

  “Then why did Jensen brand me?” Kade asked.

  “I don’t know, Kayden. I wish... I should have looked closer at you after... Hana had brands... on her eyelids... lips. I thought it was a message to me. Keep blind and mute. Something related to a case. I didn’t... the connection to the missing drugs, I missed it.”

  Kade wanted to throw up, thinking of his mother disfigured by Jensen. No wonder Dad had taken everything into himself. He’d been warned in the cruelest way possible.

  Safer to act as if it had all been a terrible accident.

  Kade lived.

  “Mom couldn’t even drive stick. Why did she have that car? Jensen might not have been targeting her,” Keir said.

  What damned bad luck!

  Dad’s car was one of the things that had puzzled both twins. Kade had taken his motorcycle down to the gambling den their mother frequented. A nice house not all that far from Bastion’s old home that catered to rich wives that enjoyed vice with their tea.

  Keir hadn’t been with him. They’d both been at home. Mom had texted Kade and he’d left without a word to his brother.

  They’d only figured all this out through reading the old texts and knowing Kade’s motorcycle had to be picked up later on when the house staff had called about the abandoned bike.

  Kade had lost days of memory. Only bits and pieces came back. He’d never known what was real or not without material evidence.

  Dad had taught him not to fabricate.

  Search for the truth.

  Didn’t mean his Dad always employed the truth, but he insisted upon knowing it.

  “Hana and I had a fight. It was over such a stupid thing. Those cats at the humane society. She wanted me to donate to their spay and neuter program. The mayor had been advocating for a more final solution to overpopulation. A start-over scenario. A lot of the cats were diseased.”

  Dad stopped. He turned back around and sat in his seat before he continued, composing himself for a few tense moments first.

  “I told Hana I wasn’t throwing my money away on dying animals. I think she was trying to teach me a lesson. Wasn’t the first time she’d tried. She texted me that she ground the gears to the Jag and was calling for a tow. Wouldn’t tell me where she’d gone.”

  Kade had been the tow. He’d always known more about cars than Keir. Enjoyed tinkering in the garage.

  Kade and Keir both leaned back in their seats.

  “Fuck!” Kade exclaimed.

  Dad didn’t admonish him like he normally would have done.

  “Buckle up. It’s not too late to put those murderers behind bars,” Dad said.

  He didn’t put on his own seatbelt.

  The car shifted out of park.

  Nothing was settled between them, but the truth had been found. It was, as Tess would have loved to hear, what they’d needed to be set free.

  21

  Bastion

  Born Bad

  Tess shook.

  She wasn’t dressed to ride on a motorcycle. Poor girl was exposed to the elements as her father drove fast, heedless of her kilt and thin shirt.

  Bastion tried to wrap as much of himself around her as he could, but he also had to hang on for safety.

  Relative safety.

  Tess’s father had left that up to him.

  Bastion was hanging on by the back of the seat and one arm wrapped around Tess. Curses dropped from his lips.

  He could hear Tess’s teeth chattering even with the wind howling past them.

  The ride was mercifully short. One advantage of speed, covering the distance quickly.

  They drove right through a garage, past some guys pretending to change oil or something an auto-mechanic would do to fit their cover.

  It smelled too clean to be a real mechanic’s garage. The only thing dirty here was the money.

  And the basement, which Bastion had hoped they’d avoid seeing in person.

  “Get off,” Tess’s father barked at them as soon as he’d kicked his bike to stand.

  Tess needed help. Bastion carried her off the bike and then put her firmly behind him.

  The Wolf looked Bastion up-and-down, dismissing him with a glance. His eyes headed over Bastion’s shoulder to Tess next.

  Bastion wasn’t here to be overlooked.

  “She’s wearing a wire. K
eep your trap shut while I find it.”

  “What did you say?” Greg asked.

  Point Bastion.

  He ignored Greg and turned around to face Tess, his hands grabbing her by the shoulders and giving her a showy shakedown.

  “I know War planted a wire on you. Give it to us. I don’t think Daddy really wants to see all the other goods you’ve been showing me, Wildcat, but I’ll strip you if you so choose.”

  Tess looked hard at him, those wheels turning in her mind.

  “It’s taped on me under my shirt,” she informed him.

  Shit.

  “Want me to take care of that for you, sugar?” asked one of the fake mechanics, coming close.

  Bastion swung his head up to stop the handsy helper from getting close. “Fuck off,” he bit out.

  “Let her fiancé do it,” Greg said, possibly showing some fatherly concern.

  It was too little and too late.

  “I can do it myself. Just give me the sweater from your bag,” Tess asked.

  He shrugged his bag off and pulled the sweater out to hand to Tess, quickly zipping back up so nobody would get a peek too soon at what else he had in there. He slung the bag back on his shoulder.

  “Take their fucking bags,” Greg ordered, smartening up.

  “I have something I’d rather not let anybody get grubby paws on,” Bastion said. “Pure white.”

  Greg laughed.

  “Fuck me, you’re carrying it on you at school? Selling to your chums?” Greg asked.

  “Shut up. She’s still wired. Might be live,” Bastion bit out.

  He put rougher hands on Tess. She didn’t look scared enough to sell it.

  “You wearing a t-shirt underneath?” Bastion asked.

  She nodded.

  He ripped apart her uniform shirt down the buttoned-front. She gasped on cue and tried to pull away.

  “Please, it’s a t-shirt. Not even a wet one. You wanted my sweater, put it on after I loosen up the wire for you to remove it.”

  Greg came up behind him, looked down at his daughter. The masking tape and a wire peeked out of her t-shirt sleeve as Bastion stripped her longer-sleeved uniform shirt off.

  He ripped the tape off next. It had to hurt, enough that tears welled-up at the corners of her eyes. She blinked wetly up at him as he took his sweater back and pulled it over her head to block the view of her fear and pain.

  The other guys were going to rip him a new asshole for putting Tess through this farce.

  Not what they’d planned, nothing was going as fucking planned.

  Tess fumbled under the sweater, finally loosening the planted wire enough for removal. His hands made quicker work of it.

  He slipped her his cell phone, pushing it into her bra. Thank God, he didn’t have a monster-sized screen like the twin’s phones. His was a snug fit, but unnoticeable under the sweater.

  He’d make a stink if anyone tried to pat down his fiancée’s tits.

  “Now you’re just playing,” Tess muttered, loud enough that her father could hear.

  It sounded hella bitter. She was into the game, he hoped.

  He turned again and slapped the tape-recorder and wire into Greg’s waiting hands.

  “Bag next.”

  “Hell, no. I have a bone to pick with Jensen. He wants this shit, then he can come ask for it himself. No dogs. No exceptions, man.”

  Greg frowned at him. Guess the Wolf didn’t like being called an errand dog.

  “What makes you think you can give orders around here, rich boy?”

  “You think I’m carrying a mil in coke on my back? This is just a sample for my ‘chums’ at the smoker’s corner.”

  “What the fuck, Bastion? You told War you destroyed the coke!” Tess screamed.

  That was perfect. She sounded outraged and innocent.

  Damn problem was, she ought to be.

  He deserved to go to hell for this.

  Bastion reached behind him, grabbed Tess by a hand and yanked her forward. He dragged her all the way to her father, tossing her into his arms.

  “Happy fucking reunion,” Bastion mocked. “I had to chase her ass down after you practically blew everything. Take her back and keep her quiet. We don’t need no snitch. Lock her ass back up in that boarding school. Tell her Mommy will get it if she squeals.”

  Greg wrapped a hand around Tess’s mouth, smothering her protest.

  “You un-engaging yourself to my daughter?” Greg asked.

  He looked confused as hell. So was their audience. None of them knew what to expect from Bastion, when just a few minutes ago, they thought they had him pegged right down to his expensive loafers.

  “It was for show. I needed out of Castle Marla. You met the bitch, so I’m sure you can relate. Need to have a solid alibi when Marla is an unfortunate victim of a burglary. Gotta steal back my inheritance somehow.”

  Greg for all his thuggish attitude wasn’t stupid. He’d been a cop once.

  “The fuck you going on about? You telling me you’re gonna knock off your mom?”

  “Stepmom.”

  “I don’t fucking care.”

  Tess wasn’t moving, not fighting. She was listening hard. Her eyes met Bastion’s cold, hard ones and then she looked away like the monster she’d gotten a glimpse of was too awful to behold.

  A monster was exactly what he’d have to be to get them free.

  “Ain’t gonna be me doing Marla. Fucking incestuous, even if the bint didn’t squeeze me out. She’s fucked my dad enough to make it disgusting.” Bastion looked the Wolf in the eyes instead of Tess. “You’re gonna plug her.”

  “What?”

  “That’s what I want for a mil in coke. One. Dead. Stepmom.”

  “What about my daughter?” Greg asked.

  Fuck, he didn’t refuse. Tess knew her father better than any of them, but that blatant villainy had to hurt to hear. It wasn’t even the worst of what Bastion had to say.

  “I want Tess, but I know Jensen’s partial to sweet bitches. Got me some samples here to make her high. Let the boss-man teach her the value of keeping her mouth shut.”

  Greg stared at him long and hard.

  Bastion didn’t dare blink.

  “They’re five minutes away,” someone said.

  Greg broke his gaze. He turned to one of their audience.

  “Three of you, down with me. Take her bag and go through it. His too, but let him keep the drugs.”

  Bastion shrugged out of his bag, unzipping, and taking out a baggie of white power. Greg tossed Tess’s bag to a guy in a leather cut instead of a mechanic’s overalls. Not pretending to fix anything but people’s faces, that one. He was ugly as hell. Broken nose too many times to breathe through it with anything less than a bull’s snort.

  Just the kind of guy to run at any red flag you waved.

  “You got clean razors? Something to snort off? I ain’t giving my bitch a disease to pass onto me,” Bastion said.

  He pulled out another baggie with sterilized supplies.

  This was plan never-should-happen. War would kill him for even carrying this shit around. Like he’d welcomed karma by providing for this awful contingency.

  The only way out of hell was to walk through it.

  22

  Tess

  Mind Inviolate

  “Give the rest of your bag to Joe,” Greg said in lieu of an answer to Bastion’s query.

  Tess fixed her eyes on the bag of razors like a kid catching sight of the needle at an immunization visit.

  She wasn’t doing drugs. He had to be buying them time.

  Why was he carrying that stuff around?

  Bastion tossed his bag. Smirked when Joe grunted at the weight of the textbooks. The toss had landed awkwardly.

  Greg un-cupped her mouth.

  She turned around, spitting out the salty taste from his sweaty palm.

  “Keep quiet,” Greg warned her. “Girls love coke. Keeps ‘em skinny. Gives ‘em nice thoughts. Gonna lose your
mind and not notice Jensen plowing your cunt. Be thankful. I don’t know why this rich boy even likes you.”

  Her father’s equivalent of a wedding-night talk?

  This was so messed up!

  “I hate him,” Tess muttered.

  Her father slapped her across the face. It was loud. The pain of it hit a moment later, with the taste of blood where she’d bitten her tongue.

  “Do not hit my fiancée!” Bastion spat out.

  He’d crossed the distance between them to reach her, pulling her away.

  Bastion was playing with her mind as well. He was too good.

  She knew he hated Marla, wouldn’t mourn if his stepmom met a bad end. The drugs, he’d held onto for a long time. He admitted to street contacts once before, a past that was as murky as Tess’s own.

  Nobody had seen the drugs but Bastion.

  Who’s to say he’d not been selling some of the powder?

  That was crazy!

  He told her he loved her.

  “Get going. Coke needs time to buzz you before the boss-man arrives,” Bastion said.

  He grabbed her by an upper arm and half-carried, half-dragged her.

  “Let me go!” Tess shouted, putting up a fight.

  She didn’t care if Bastion wanted one or not, she needed to fight going into the basement. Her instincts screamed at her that it was a bad idea.

  Trust was being beaten out of her with every shocking blow Bastion dealt.

  “Feisty. Can you blame me for liking a spicy piece like her?” he casually asked her father.

  Greg grunted a response that he didn’t care all that much.

  The fight didn’t matter in the end. Bastion simply overpowered her, throwing her over his shoulder when they got to the stairs.

  Her tears came back when he carried her.

  It was like the fight had left her with her will. All that was left, hurt to feel.

  She was contemplating the bitterness of surrender when the phone Bastion had stuffed into her bra came loose, getting her on the chin.

  Nobody was following behind them. The door was closed, light dim.

  She pulled the phone loose of her shirt’s collar and thumbed it on, shocked when there was no password. Had he disabled it so she could use his phone easily?