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They find Holly’s surprised gasp amusing.
“They’re going to kill us,” she whispers, a small tear running down her cheek.
“No, they’re not. They want to kill me, but my parents will get us out before that can happen. They’re more bark than bite. You have nothing to fear.”
She holds her bandaged hands up. “I have everything to fear.”
Chapter Fifteen
Dex
After enough time passes, you stop thinking the past will rear its ugly head and try to end you. I always hear life moves on, but for this guy, nothing has moved anywhere. I don’t particularly blame him; his son was killed. It doesn’t matter to him that Danny came after us, and if I were in his position, I’d do the same for my children.
I just hope the club can find me in time.
I test the rope tying me to the chair, but it doesn’t budge an inch. It’s not like I can make a run for it, but still, instinct has me at least trying.
I run my tongue over the split on my top lip, tasting blood. The air hits the open wound on my cheek, and I try not to flinch. I can barely breathe from where the sick prick busted at least two of my ribs.
While I wait for the club to track me down, I reassess the situation I find myself in.
Bert hasn’t moved from the chair facing mine in this rundown motel room. The old prick hasn’t laid a finger on me yet, choosing instead to order his guys to inflict pain on me.
“I have eleven kids by eight different mothers. Eight sons and three daughters, and Danny was the only one I gave a shit about. He was the only one I saw myself in. You could say he’s the only one I cared enough to be a father to… well, as close to one as I knew how to be.”
I can’t bring myself to wonder too deeply how he fathered, because Danny was an asshole who got what he deserved. He took Oak from us, a sin that had to be paid for with his life.
“I want you to tell me every detail of how my son was killed.”
“I’m surprised you don’t already know, as you seem to know everything else.”
I limit the sarcasm. I don’t want to push him over the edge completely.
He waves his hand dismissively. “Talk.”
If I give him what he wants, he won’t hesitate to end me. Instead, I divulge, “I loved Melissa. She was unlike any woman I’d ever met before.” Raking up old memories of her, ones I’d long ago buried, seems wrong. Libby is my life now. “Our relationship wasn’t exactly typical, but when I had to shoot her, there was no question I wouldn’t hesitate to end her life over Cas’s.”
“I could care less about her, and I know all about loyalties to a president. Get to what I want to hear.”
“Why did you burn her hands. You’ve been watching us for a while, so you knew she wasn’t one of us,” I ask instead.
A slow smile spreads across his face, and I sigh with relief at buying myself a few more moments.
“The man you call Tal is Ethan McGregor, and the same thing happened to his mom many years ago. I like it when history repeats itself. It makes me feel as young as I was the first time it happened.”
I stay quiet, allowing him to continue. “Ethan’s dad is an undercover agent, since retired, and because of him, I spent twenty years behind bars. I learned long ago, when I want someone’s attention, you have to set the flames high.”
What the fuck? Tal’s our fucking rat?
“I knew who he was as soon as I stepped into the diner. He’s the spitting image of his father, and that’s a face you never forget. I told the girl who he was, and by now, I imagine Cas knows the truth.”
It’s funny how when you hear the truth, everything falls into place, and you feel like an ass because you should’ve seen it coming. The kid’s dad is a fed. Of course he would’ve had contacts, and that’s why the fed came sniffing around Slade, asking questions about India.
“There’s something I need to tell you. I wasn’t the one who killed your boy—Cas did.”
Bert’s eyes narrow, his hands clenching into fists.
“I was there. I remember everything that happened to him. First, he got beat so bad, he couldn’t even remember his own name, but that didn’t stop him from running his mouth. Then, one by one, he lost his fingers. More beatings followed, and then he was stabbed repeatedly until he choked on his own blood. I watched him take his last breath.”
