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I swipe a hand through my hair, my heart racing as I tuck my gun back into the holster under my cut. “So much for Jefferson makin’ sure the Hellions were his number one customer.”
“Piece of shit got greedy. Gotta be the Skeletons,” Viking mutters. “That’s what happens when you think you can outsmart the Hellions. After this, we hit the Skeletons and fuck them up, too.”
There were a lot of dead people back there, and as we make it to the highway, there was still no sound of any police sirens. I guess that fucker Jefferson chose his playground well.
“Bane’s gonna be pissed he didn’t get the first shot,” Radium goes on. “You know how superstition he is about this shit.”
I smile to myself. Priest and Harlem are similar. They always trust gut instinct, and tonight I’m glad we had the backup of the MC. Which reminds me, “Didn’t see Hawk?”
“Was in the first truck with Panic and Savage.”
Everyone from the MC is accounted for, not that I’m unconcerned about the Hellions, but I’d hate for any of my brothers to get hurt over a mess they really had nothing to do with.
“Nice night for a siege, don’t you think?” Archer laughs.
“Long as Jefferson’s men are the ones gettin’ hit,” I say.
“Sit tight. We’ll be in Ridgehaven in about thirty.”
I sit back and close my eyes, trying not to think about Star, but her face is all I see.
I need to get back to my girl.
25
ESTELLE
“What do you mean, that’s it?” I start to pace. I don’t know what I was thinking. That my sister would magically just appear out of the back of that truck and we’d be together again. Have I been living in delusion all this time? I swallow hard. It’s like the last few months are finally creeping up on me. The truth that I’ve been avoiding taps on my shoulder like an unwelcome guest. No. I don’t believe —
“Matilda Jane St. Clair?” My head snaps up as I hear Harlem’s voice. He’s holding something… His eyes flick to mine, his mouth opens then closes again. “It was in the bag.”
“The bag?” I know what it is.
The bag with all the IDs the men collected for all the girls that are dead. That’s what it is. But I refuse to believe that this is real. It can’t be. But then… Harlem has her ID.
“I’m…” He swallows hard. “I’m sorry.”
I charge toward him as I snatch the driver’s license from his fingers and stare at my sister's face. It’s her ID. Her name. Her address. Which means… which means… she could be here… alive, somewhere… not dead. No, she couldn’t be.
“This doesn’t mean…” I stop when I see the other man, Tag, purse his lips. He’s a big man too, and I don’t like the look of sympathy I see in his eyes. That isn’t meant for me. That’s meant for someone else, someone who has actually lost their sister and best friend. Not me.
“It’s the IDs for all the victims,” Harlem says, his tone soft. “They keep ‘em as…”
“Trophies,” I finish. I step away from him. “They keep them as trophies, right?”
I don’t wait for an answer. I run outside the clubhouse and I don’t even make it half-way across the lot when I drop to my knees and sob. This can’t be right.
I can’t believe it. But then why do they have Tilly’s ID if she’s safe? If she’s alive?
I suck in a breath, but it feels like my lungs are collapsing. When the scream leaves my windpipe, it doesn’t sound like it’s of this world. It sounds like a woman who’s been broken into a thousand pieces and there’s no hope.
I sob, choking out every bittersweet, beautiful and innocent memory I ever had of me and my sister and the happy reunion I planned in my head. It was all a dream. The pain engulfs me and I don’t even know how long I kneel, sprawled down as if I’m praying. I don’t even care if anyone is watching. They can all go to hell because this is my own personal hell. I can’t even be happy that the girls we have in the MC clubhouse are going to be safe and they’ll get to go back home, or be housed until they can find suitable accommodations. Some of the girls were homeless, some were kidnapped from their hometowns. The whole thing just makes me sick, and that makes me mad all over again. The injustice… A shudder rips through my body. The pain feels like it may go on forever, and I welcome it.
Suddenly, big, warm hands envelope me as I collapse. All of my heart, all of my strength, disappears. Nothing matters now. Nothing matters at all if I don’t have her.
I let the man pick me up. I don’t even fight against him.
“Who?” I garble.
