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I’d just slid back into the alley a little deeper when I heard his voice, like he appeared out of fucking nowhere. “Finally.”
My head snapped to the left, and I exhaled sharply when I saw Tank. “What the hell are you doin’ here?”
I scanned the area around us before meeting his eyes again. “Looking for you. Took me about a week since your cell phone is in your room at the clubhouse.”
“Using burners. Couldn’t take the chance of being tracked.” I again scanned the area, expecting danger to sneak up on me the way Tank had. “You still didn’t answer me. Why the fuck are you here?”
He jerked up his chin. “Bear expected you to be back a month ago. When you didn’t show, he expressed concern. Concerns I shared. I decided to come find you.”
“You can see I’m fine, so you can go.”
“Not getting rid of me until you tell me what the hell is going on.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Bear didn’t tell you?”
“Told me you were here to clean up some shit your old man got into, but that’s all.”
I glanced at the house across the street and wondered how much I should share. This was my past and it was ugly as hell. Most of the guys in the club had been through similar shit, but I still always tried to keep this life from the new one I was building. I didn’t want to bring anyone into this with me. I only told Bear out of respect, and I didn’t even tell him everything.
Tank leaned his back against the building, pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, and lit one. Shoving the pack and lighter back in his pocket, he started speaking. “Five, almost six years ago, I brought you to the Sinners to give you a fresh start. Didn’t ask questions, didn’t need to. I knew who you were without knowing your history. Still do. So do the boys in the club. Every one of ’em would be here if you gave the signal.”
“This isn’t their fight,” I replied. “Yours either.”
“We share these fights. You have a family now, brother, and one that will have your back every fucking time. But you gotta tell us what you need.” When I didn’t reply, he kept talking. “Left the military over ten years ago. I was looking for what I had there. Family, brotherhood, a team. Found the Sinners and joined, but I didn’t like the direction they were heading after a while. Thought I made the wrong decision. Fought a war with the club that I almost didn’t survive and again wondered what the fuck I was still doing in this club. But out of those fucking ashes came a new leader. I wasn’t sure of him, but he’s worked his ass off to build a club we can be proud of. I’m proud to say there isn’t a man in this club I wouldn’t lay down my life for, and I know every one of them feels the same.” He took a drag on his cigarette. “Not one of them will judge you by your past and that’s a gift we all deserve.”
I watched the smoke billow in front of me before evaporating into the night air, but my mind was on Tank’s words. I knew he was right. The club wouldn’t judge me. I was judging myself and had been for a long time.
“My dad was in the hospital.”
Tank grunted. “What happened?”
“Stabbed on Christmas Eve for not paying his debts. I didn’t even know he still had debts. He’s been in prison for thirteen years. Went in before I did my time. Had no idea he was still making deals from behind those bars, but he was. A couple of the men who had worked for him for years got tired of being the scapegoats, doin’ all the fucking work yet still giving him a percentage.”
“They fucked him over,” Tank surmised.
“My dad wasn’t the greatest father, but he was a decent boss. He paid those men for their work, and he paid his debts. They kept reporting in that the jobs he sent them on weren’t successful, which meant he had to find more jobs for them. The truth was, they were pocketing it all. He thought he could trust them. He couldn’t, and by the time he figured it out, he was over three hundred K in debt to some people who expected that to be paid. He had no way of doing that from jail and never planned to find me.”
“How do you know that?”
“My uncle called me after the prison called him. Told me my dad was stabbed nine times but lived. My uncle asked my dad if he wanted to call me, but he said no. He told my uncle I’d gotten out, found a way to live clean, and he didn’t want to drag me back into the life that would eventually kill us both. He was in the hospital until three weeks ago when they discharged him. He’s living with my uncle to finish out his time, which is less than six months. All those fucking years, never got hurt, and his last year, he ends up in the hospital knocking on death’s door.”
“Have you seen him?”
“No,” I admitted. “Not plannin’ to until I can tell him his debt’s been paid. Made a deal. They gave me four months to pay it all, and they’ll leave him alone for those months. Figure if I can clear this, he can have a fresh start. Not sure he’ll take it. Stealing is all he ever knew, but at least I’ll know I did all I could to make that a possibility for him.”
“And if you don’t pay it?”
I only gave him silence. We both knew if I didn’t pay his debt, we were both marked. These men didn’t mess around. I was lucky they agreed to this, and they only did that because I’d made them so much fucking money in the past that they respected me. Otherwise, I’d have been killed when I stepped foot in their garage.
“Looks like we have some work to do.” Tank dropped his cigarette and crushed it beneath his boot while gesturing up the street. We both stepped back into the shadows and watched the Maserati pull into the driveway.
“Time for you to go.”
Tank ignored me. “You lead; I’ll follow.”
“Not getting you involved in this.”
“Too late for that.” He gestured toward the garage door that just closed. “I have no fucking idea how you’re getting that car out of that garage unnoticed.”
