Page 114 of Shattered Pieces

“What about when Rory gets out then? You really want that fucker running around still?”

“It will take a few days for her lawyer to get the case thrown out. She won’t be out before the weekend.”

“I need to get that fucking murder weapon. If I can’t break in and take it, we need someone who can make it vanish,” he stated, and I blew out a breath as we tried to come up with a plan.

“I know we need to keep the Psychos out of this, but maybe D can help? He’s got some of the cops in their pocket, right? I wonder if he can get the evidence to vanish without any of us having to break in?” I wondered out loud, already reaching for my phone.

“Can’t hurt to ask. We can meet him when he’s free. Maybe tell him about his rat problem too,” he agreed, double checking everything was fine in the system before closing it all down.

I called Diesel, a little surprised he answered since he was probably at the Shed still.

“Hey?” he greeted, question in his tone.

“Hey. Can I stop by yours when you’re home? I want to update you about our visit with Rory,” I lied. “We had a kickass lunch in Rosevale too.”

“You want to talk to me about your lunch?” he said dryly, but he knew I’d said it for a reason. “I suppose. I’m just finishing up at the Shed. Meet me at mine, we can talk outside, if that’s cool?”

He didn’t want me in the house, and I could respect that.

“Sounds good. I’ll see you in what, an hour?”

“Make it thirty minutes.”

“Done,” I said before hanging up, giving Marco a nod to let him know it was sorted.

I went for a shower while Marco took the knife to melt it down to nothing like it never existed. With him leaving to do that, I took my bike to Pine Valley, having enough time for a cigarette before Diesel parked in the driveway beside me.

“What happened? I doubt you want to talk about lunch,” he said as he climbed out.

“It was a good lunch. We went to the place that Marla’s ex owns,” I replied, flicking my cigarette. “Rory should be out in the next week. Witness is handled.”

“You did? Already?” he asked with surprise, making me nod.

“Yep. Left one of the Soldiers’ cigarette butts and a beer bottle on the property, so they should get hauled in and investigated. Gives us some time as they’ll go underground again with the cops watching them.”

“Smart,” he chuckled, lighting a cigarette too. “Did she say much? About what actually happened?”

“She mentioned a few things. Skeet won’t want to hear it,” I warned, and he scowled.

“He might be mad, but maybe some truth would help him.”

“This is only going to make things worse for you guys, trust me.”

That made him frown, and he studied me for a moment before replying. “Is this an internal issue?”

“The rat was fed information from one of your own. I really think this needs to be handled carefully, D. You can’t just go in firing shots,” I said, his eyes narrowing.

“One of the guys is in on it? Matteo?”

“Bingo. He followed Rory and saw her kill Max, then took a weapon to Mandy in a bag, claiming it was the murder weapon and told her what to say to the cops. He was threatening her, but there’s more,” I sighed. “She overheard Matteo and Cliff planning to kidnap and rape Rory. Cliff was going to fuck her with a knife when they were done so none of you would want to touch her again.”

“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Diesel snapped, grabbing for the truck door handle, but I stopped him.

“Be smart, or you’ll only get yourself killed. Take it to Skeet, hold a meeting, do it the proper way.”

“The guys won’t execute him for planning on raping Rory,” he hissed.

“No, but he still told Mandy to rat to the cops on his behalf and gave her a gun to claim as evidence. He’s a rat, so play that card. He still went behind Skeet’s back too. You guys were all ordered at the time to back off from Rory, she was his girl, so use that too. He’s a rat that went against orders,” I repeated, seeming to calm him enough to stop him from running off and getting his ass killed.