AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Even through my tears, I hiccup a laugh as I smear my face into his shirt again by nodding.
“You did everything I told you not to do. Take on the system. Take stupid risks. Mila, you almost died.” He mostly sounds exasperated though, and not really angry. Not anymore at least.
“So did you. Sorry, not sorry.”
He sighs deeply. “I'm just glad you're safe. How about you introduce me to those assholes behind you?”
“They aren’t assholes!”
“They’re fucking my little sister, I can call them whatever the hell I want.”
I've told him about what happened during my last visit. In a perfect world, he would have been released immediately, but the system moves slowly, even when local officials are exposed as corrupt and criminal. And especially if the person under review actually committed a crime. No one has mentioned the video of him shooting Mullerby, so we’re all just avoiding the subject and hoping Snark got all the copies. I’m not stupid. I know it will probably come back to bite Danny or us in the ass later, but I’m also not going to go chasing trouble.
For a while anyway.
I drag him over to Mack, Reaper and Scrapper, and make introductions.
He looks between the three of them, then smiles. “I'll admit that when Mila told me that she'd hooked up with three bikers from the Screaming Eagles MC, I wasn't super thrilled. But then she's told me about all the things you guys have done for her, and how I've got the three of you to thank for the fact that she’s alive. Not to mention the fact that she was able to then get me out of jail, so… Maybe it's better that she's got three guys like you to look after her. She’s too much work for one person to keep track of.”
The guys all laugh and nod.
“Hey!” I put my fists to my hips. “You don't have to be that quick to agree.”
“He speaks the truth, babe,” says Scrapper, not looking sorry at all.
“Great.” I roll my eyes.
“You know what my favorite part of all this is?” says Reaper.
I cock my head curiously. “What?”
He holds up his phone to show us the Channel 7 website, where Judge Kincaid features prominently with the headline GUILTY. “All counts. His appeal was rejected, and soon he’ll start serving time. I feel like that's a bit of poetic fucking justice, to be honest.”
It makes me smile. “He deserves it, but do you think he’s just a scapegoat? He never seemed like he was some kind of big boss mastermind, you know what I mean? Like we know he made up his granddaughter to get me to talk to him, and then sent those cars after us, so trust me, I have exactly zero sympathy for him, but still.” I shrug.
Reaper nods. “Oh, he pretty much said as much when we… um… interviewed him after the Cleanup Crew brought him back to the pit.”
The Cleanup Crew and the Misfits caught him trying to skip town with his suitcases packed while I was busy being rescued at the TV studio. I passed on a second trip to the pit. I didn’t want to see more violence and I feel like I've flirted more than enough with the Geneva convention already. Then they delivered him to the authorities, all gift wrapped and done up for them, nicely coordinated with the broadcast of my exposé. Ella got most of the credit for that, which I'm fine with. I think I'm happier not being noticed by strangers for a while.
Mack gets Danny's attention. “So, now that you're out, what's your plan?”
Danny pauses, his expression sobering. “That's a real good question. I haven't given it much thought, or at least I hadn't until I found out that I was getting released. I thought I had more than thirty years left to figure it out.” The way he looks around, it's obvious he still can't believe that it's real. “I keep expecting them to come running out to tell me that it was just a mistake, and haul me right back in.”
“Well, you can crash in the room we made up for Mila until you figure it out,” says Reaper. “As someone who's spent time on the wrong side of those walls, the more distance we put between them and us, the better. Let's get you the fuck outta here.”
Reaper's new bike is a marvel. I love it even more than the one he had before we went into the river. Deep red gradient with black trim, it looks dark and evil and mysterious. It purrs like a panther, has a comfy back seat and I want to ride on it every chance I get.
So I'm a little jealous when he offers it to Danny instead. “Here, hop on back. Mack'll take your things in the saddle bags, and Scrapper's got Mini-mi.” He grins at me, liking the nickname.
“Nuh uh. You guys can call me whatever you want, but that nickname is reserved for Danny. Just so that's clear.” I climb onto Scrappers bike and wrap my arms around his powerful body. It's no hardship, I'll admit that.
And then we head home.
39
MILA
Turns out, my boys are just as good at putting up walls as they are at breaking them down. I never expected my new apartment to be where my old apartment was, but the building's repaired, the Eagles' Roost downstairs is getting ready to reopen soon, and we're already furnishing the new place. Heck, we're sleeping here for the first time tonight, as long as the smell of fresh paint doesn't get too overwhelming.
