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The silence surrounded us, suffocating all the air out of the room, but I kept my back to the wall, my mask in place, and my eyes on Hut.
“Let this be a warning to you all. You cross me, and I end you.” I was desperate to correct him. He hadn’t ended Ted. He’d had Ford do it. Maybe it was so nothing came back on him, but I had a sneaky suspicion that it was because he couldn’t stomach it himself. “Quinn, clean this shit up. Ford, Brody, you’re with me. We have a body to show our good friend Carson.”
* * *
BRODY
Hut strode out of Carson’s club like a goddamn peacock, all he was missing were the feathers. My blood pumped through my body at an alarming rate, my pulse going haywire. He was fuckin' happy with making one of his men take someone else’s life, and he didn’t blink twice as he made Ford and me present Ted to Carson like a fuckin' trophy.
“Take me home, Ford. I need to clean up before I pay someone a visit.” His brows wagged up and down, and I swear to god, I wanted to rip his face clean off. “Oh! Before I do.” He halted next to the passenger door and stared at me. “Have you been fuckin' my sister?”
My head reeled back, my mouth opening and closing like a goddamn fish. I’d known he would ask me at some stage, but right here? Right now? “No,” I ground out. “I know the rules.”
His eyes focused on me, he was silent for way too long, and then he clipped out, “Good.”
I didn’t say a word as they got into the SUV, a dark cloud hanging over Ford. The thought of being in a confined space with Hut made me want to knock myself out. Surely that couldn’t have been the extent of him asking me about Lola, or maybe it was another one of his stupid tests? I acted on autopilot, moving to my car, and starting it up when my cell pinged.
Jord: Need you back at the house.
I blew out a breath and leaned back in my seat. I wanted to see Lola before I entertained what had happened, but I couldn’t let her see this side of me. I had to keep it locked away. She had enough shit going on without needing to witness mine too.
Darkness was enveloping me from all sides, and I didn’t know what I could do to stop it, so I pulled out of the lot and headed to the house. I reasoned that Hut would be heading back to their house right now and I wouldn’t be able to talk to Lola, not if we wanted to keep the pretense with Hut up. Plus, I had to tell the guys what had happened.
My fist connected with the steering wheel over and over again, my knuckles turning bright red from the force, but I couldn’t feel a thing. That was what scared me the most: I’d lost the compassion. I’d lost the care to want to do anything the right way—the legal way.
No, that wasn’t right. I did care. I cared about getting Lola out of that house and making sure Hut couldn’t get to her. Things had changed. Hut had shown me a side to him I hadn’t witnessed before. Not only was he watching us, but he now had a hold over Ford, no matter what the guys did to turn him. Sure, he was giving them information, but what was that really if not a few words?
I pulled up outside the house, scanning the area like usual, and then heading inside. I halted just inside the door, all the air being sucker punched out of me.
“Sir?” I stumbled forward, my palms running down the side of my thighs. The dried blood stained my skin like a beacon shining from a lighthouse. There was no way they’d not see it.
“Brody.” Aaron, my supervisor, nodded as he stood on one side of the table with the guys on the other side. “Come and take a seat.” I didn’t like his tone or the way he stared at me with his assessing blue eyes. They narrowed the closer I got, wrinkles appearing at the edge, and he ran his hand over his face. “Please tell me that blood is not yours.”
“It’s not,” I croaked out. “It’s Ted’s.”
“Fuck.” Aaron slammed his hand down on the table. “What the hell happened between this morning and now?”
I slid down into one of the open seats, not really taking anything in. It wasn’t that I hadn’t witnessed a dead body before. I’d just never been in such close quarters as I watched a life drain from someone.
I tried to fill them in the best I could, but I knew I was missing out vital details and backtracked, trying to make sense of it myself. My body was drained, my brain tired, and they could all see it clearly.
“Jord, get officers down to the crime scene,” Aaron barked out. “This just makes it all the more easier.” I frowned up at him. “You’re out.”
“What?” I choked on the single word, standing up, and finally feeling a little like myself again. “You can’t take me off the case.”
“I can, and I have.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’m too close.” I placed my palms on the table, leaning forward and growling, “We’re too close.”
“I know,” Aaron said. “That was apparent after your search this morning.”
I hung my head. “Shit.”
“What?” Jord asked. “What search?”
“You wanna tell them, Brody, or should I?” I hated the way he said my name with authority. It was a reminder of who I was outside of this case, a reminder that was getting closer and closer to being revealed.
“I was looking for a safe house.”
