Page 91
Hyde shrugged. “Not Imogene. Her dad maintained his innocence, right? Sounds to me like she’s just holding onto that.”
“That’s fucking crazy,” Jekyll snapped. “She’s got all that evidence in front of her face, and she’s still at his back fucking defending him?”
“You’d do the same.”
Jekyll jerked his head, watching Ghost walk up to the table and pull out a chair, taking a seat. His brother stared back at him, knitting his brows.
“Tell me I’m wrong,” Ghost said.
Jekyll scoffed. “You’re fucking wrong.”
Ghost slowly nodded, glancing over at Hyde. “He gets locked up for murder and tells you he didn’t do it. You believe him?”
What the fuck kind of question was that?
“I kill someone, Jek is probably there helping me get rid of the body, Ghost.” Hyde laughed, and Jekyll raised his brows in confirmation.
“Not talking about in our world. Talking about some innocent person who’s got nothing to do with the club or the Underground. Just some random guy on the street walking home from work.” Ghost looked over at him. “They arrest Hyde, but he’s saying it wasn’t him. Do you believe him?”
Jekyll furrowed his brows, rolling over the scenario in his mind when Cypher interjected.
“Ghost, man, they got piles of evidence against her dad.”
“Alright, so same scenario. They got all the evidence to convict Hyde. But they don’t have a confession because he’s telling you he didn’t do it.” Ghost arched his brow. “Do you believe him, Jek?”
The room was drowned in silence.
Ghost settled back in his chair. “I remember the case, don’t have all the details but know they had enough to convict him and a witness pointing the finger at him. But he never faltered on his innocence.”
Cypher scoffed. “You don’t think he’s guilty?”
Ghost snorted. “Oh no, brother, he did it. Not a fucking doubt in my mind. I’m just saying you’re questioning why Imogene can’t see it, but you’re not looking at it from her point of view. It’s her dad. She’s probably convinced herself that he’s innocent partly because he’s telling her and the other because she wants it to be true.” Ghost shrugged. “That’s the thing about the mind. It’s a treacherous fucker sometimes. You could have the proof all laid out for you, but in your head, you still hold on to what you want the truth to be.” Ghost grabbed his coffee and stood.
Jekyll watched him walk out of the room. He still couldn’t wrap his head around Imogene defending her dad. But Ghost’s analysis opened his eyes to something he hadn’t thought of.
“Here.” Hyde slid a pink phone across the table toward Cypher then looked over at Jekyll. “I swiped her phone when she was throwing out her garbage. You need to track her, Jek.”
Yeah, I do.
Cypher grabbed the phone and stood. “Give me twenty minutes.”
When he walked out, Hyde got up from the table and stood at the edge. “Ghost is right.” He gripped the back of the chair. “She stood by him ’cause she believed him.”
Jekyll fisted his hands. “He lied to her.”
“Yeah.” Hyde nodded. “But you’d believe me, Jek. Just like I’d believe you. Even if I had my doubts, I’d take your word to me over everything else. Same story, just different players.”
Yeah. Fuck!
“She told me about Murdoch being her cousin. Said he was one of the reasons she moved to Lawry, him being her only family.”
Jekyll slowly nodded. “Not trying to hide it.”
“No, even fucking bragged about how impressive he was. To me.” Hyde snorted and folded his arms. “Totally fucking clueless. But you know what surprised me about her?”
Jekyll arched his brow. “What?”
“She’s the same as she was in prison.” Hyde smiled, shaking his head. “Talking to her? Kept trying to see behind the mask. Pushed her on a few things just to see if she’d crack. But she didn’t, and when she told me about Murdoch, I realized I was looking for something that wasn’t there. Not used to people like her.”
