Page 102 of Nixon’s Promise

The hovel didn’t say Fuck Shack—it screamed scary serial killer hideout.

“Swagger tagged a lot of ass in this piece of shit shack back in the day. Everyone knows about it. Every woman who’d ever been back here will remember the time they’d spent under Swagger and thank their lucky stars they’d made it out alive. They’ll live out their days wondering if when he was fucking them, if he was having thoughts of beating and killing them, too. And finally, he’ll get what’s coming to him. All of those years he fucked with my boy will come back to him ten-fold when he’s someone’s bitch in the joint. And I’ll rest easy knowing I put him there. Hell, maybe I’ll even let Rick cuff him and haul his pathetic ass in. Nixon would hate that.”

I remained lying on the dirty floor, staring up at the pitched ceiling in disbelief. Sheriff Dillinger was going to kill me and pin it on Nix. He wasn’t wrong—in a town as small as Kent County any story can be spun and it would spread like wildfire. It wouldn’t take much for people to believe the lies. Mandy and Zack would never believe it. Even if they weren’t with Nixon when the sheriff took me, they knew Nix. Knew how much he loved us, what kind of man he was. They’d stand by him.

Alec, Holden, Chasin, Weston, and Jameson would fight, too. They were all there, Nixon had an alibi, something the sheriff didn’t know or hadn’t taken into consideration.

I had to keep Dick talking. I needed a little more time for my head to clear, then I’d make my move.

40

“Where is she?” Nixon demanded and wrenched Deputy Dirt Dog’s collar tighter.

He had Dick Dillinger cornered. Not caring it was unlawful entry and that breaking into an officer’s home would be frowned upon, Nix hadn’t delayed kicking in Rick’s front door.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the deputy sputtered.

“McKenna,” Nixon growled, fast losing the loose grip on his temper.

“I don’t know.” Fear flashed in the other man’s eyes and Nixon actually believed him.

“Fuck!” He shoved Rick away. After stumbling back the deputy regained his footing.

“Nixon, I swear I don’t know.”

Goddamn it. With a jerk of his chin, Chasin followed Nixon to the door. He swung himself into the driver’s seat of McKenna’s old blue pickup and waited for his friend to close the door before he sped out of Rick’s driveway, kicking up rocks and dust as he floored it.

“You believe him?” Chasin asked.

“Unfortunately, yes. He’s a stupid prick, but a coward. His balls aren’t big enough to take my woman.”

Nixon fished his cell out of his pocket and dialed Alec.

“Yo, Swagger,” Alec greeted.

“What kind of network did Miller have set up?”

“What do you mean?” Alec’s tone had gone cautious.

“Blowback. Did he have fail-safes in place? Is there anyone at DHS that would deliver payback? He mentioned McKenna when we were in that basement.”

“No. Everything we dug up confirmed he was working alone. Hell, McKenna crawled up his ass and only found that one bribe. What’s going on?”

“McKenna’s gone.”

“Come again?”

Nixon heard a loud bang then rustling on the other end of the line.

“Gone. We were all at my place, she went to her house to make lunch, she was taking too long, me and Chasin went to her house. The porch door was ripped off the hinges, front door wide open, and her kitchen’s a fucking mess.”

After the initial rage had morphed into a simmering storm, Nixon and Chasin had entered the house, careful not to touch or move anything. There had been several times Nix had to remind himself to lock down his anger, but when they’d found blood splattered near the kitchen table, his limits had been tested to the point of fracture. Thankfully, Chasin was there to shove him out of the house before he did something stupid like tear the kitchen apart in a fit of rage.

“I’m on my way,” he told Nix. “We’ll find her. I’ll be there in two hours, tops.”

The line disconnected and Nix tossed his phone on the seat next to him.

“We need to get back to your house, talk to the guys, and come up with a plan. Us driving aimlessly isn’t gonna help,” Chasin said.