“You lied to Honey?” He asked in a darkly teasing way.
“I did what was necessary. They would have put up a fight to keep me here.”
“You should be here.”
“No, I should be with you and my friends in my own town.”
“It’s fucking volatile back there right now. As much as I don’t want to leave you, I also don’t want you in Violence in the middle of a Mafia-Cartel-MC war that’s brewing.”
“Former Army, James. I can handle myself.”
“You just spent more than a month in the hospital recuperating from being shot, Cassidy. You’re not exactly soldier ready.”
“I’m going, so call Bigfoot back and tell him to keep whoever he’s sending there.
“Too late.” I turned to see a man with wavy, blondish-brown shoulder-length hair standing in the doorway. “I’m already here, but that’s cool, I can do another four hours on the Harley. Besides, best you aren’t rolling into town on your own right now.”
“You rolled out on your own,” James kicked back.
The smile that seemed perpetual on Smooth’s face ramped up a notch and I swear the guy was made of sunshine for a minute. No. No, that was the glare from the window behind him.
“I’m going down to grab a coffee and then we can get back to Violence before the town devolves to… Well, violence.” Smooth snickered as he delivered what amounted to a dad joke that was backed with a whole lot of potential truth to it.
“Are you sure you’re alright?”James asked me for the fourth time after we pulled into Violence. The motorcycle ride was four hours of uncomfortable rumble and probably not the way that Dr. Roberts thought I’d be getting back to my hometown. I could guess easily enough that it wasn’t the recommended mode of transport even for short distances.
“Besides my jelly legs, I’m all good, promise.” It was a lie. My chest ached in a way it hadn’t in at least a week. Still, we bothneeded to be back. “Go deal with Simone so we can figure out how to put this mess to bed.”
“Listen to your woman and get the hell down there now,” Bigfoot ordered. A man who looked like an older version of him stood by with his arms crossed over his chest, but he wasn’t looking at Knuckles. His stare was aimed straight at me.
“Come with me,” he insisted.
“Um,” I started to protest.
“If my wife sees you on your feet for one minute longer, she’s going to raise holy hell and the mafia and cartel at our doorstep will look like small fries in comparison.” I wanted to giggle, but held it in because I already hurt bad enough from that ride. My stubborn pride kept me on my feet. That, and I knew I’d crash the moment my ass hit a seat that wasn’t flying down the highway at ungodly speeds.
“Yes, sir. We can’t have your wife angry at the club. That won’t do,” I reiterated as I winked at Knuckles. He blew out a relieved breath and took off for a hallway that must have led to the lower level.
21.THE PRISONER
KNUCKLES
I leftCassidy in good hands upstairs by the time I finally made my way down to the cells below ground. I didn’t think Simone realized that no one who was brought down here ever made it back out alive. Not unless they were below ground to work the fruiting room of our shroom operation.
“Thank God!” Simone called out dramatically when I came through the door. “Where have you been?”
“Don’t worry about that.”
“How is Cassidy? Is she still alive? I swear, I didn’t mean to shoot her.”
I didn’t bother to give her any of the answers she needed.
“Shut your mouth and listen up. This is how it’s going to go. If I think for even a second that you’re not being honest, any deal we make is off and your life is forfeit.”
“I’ll be the one deciding if you’re being honest since Knuckles has always had an issue telling the difference.” I turned to see Grunt with his arms crossed and back against the wall. Simone knew he was there the whole time. The smirk on his face told me she had already tried to appeal to him before I walked in.
“You will start at the beginning, with your parentage, then you will tell us every move you made, why, and how long you’vebeen embedded with the Rivera Cartel. We already know a lot, so there’s no need to sugar coat anything. If you’re honest, we’ll get you set up somewhere halfway around the world with a new identity. If we even suspect you’re lying, the relocation will be to a hole in the ground where you’re never seen or heard from again.”
“You would kill me?” Simone asked. I couldn’t exactly answer, “In a heartbeat,” if I wanted her to cooperate.
