Page 12 of Shattered Pieces

“I can’t believe you guys would turn on her without asking questions,” I said as I stood, shaking my head. “You’re just making assumptions.”

“You fucking saw her on that TV yourself in nothing but that assholes shirt,” he snapped, not expecting me to shove him.

“She killed her fucking dad and had a crime scene all over her. What else was she supposed to wear? We didn’t answer the phone, Skeet. If I was her, I would have called him too.”

“You need to go, D. Now,” he bit out, firmly pressing my gun into my hand. “I fucking mean it.”

I shoved it down the back of my pants and left, ignoring the guys at the bar, who called out shit to me about being a baby, and even Caden looked irritated with me.

Why didn’t anyone else see this shit for what it was? Absolute bullshit.

I got into my truck and headed towards the road, calling Hunter again.

“Hey,” he answered, his voice a little flat. “You good?”

“Yeah. I’m just leaving. I’ll head to mine and ditch my phone and truck. You want to meet me on the road that turns off at the sign with the bullet holes? There’s no cameras out there.”

“I can do that. Keep your eyes open,” he stated, murmuring to someone before speaking to me again. “I’ve got company. You cool with that?”

“Who?”

“Mark and Ty.”

“Yeah, they’re fine. I’ll see you soon. Give me time to ditch my shit and walk down,” I explained before hanging up and deleting the call log again, keeping an eye out for trouble the whole way home.

Thankfully, no one seemed to follow me from the Shed, so it was easy to get home and drop off all my stuff before starting to walk along the road. It was dark now, helping hide me in case someone did come looking for me. Skeeter would probably be preoccupied with Caden, so that was one good thing about their friendship holding firm.

It didn’t take long for me to see the glow of cigarettes in the darkness, and I made a beeline towards them.

“I assume things aren’t going great on your end if you’re having to sneak out to see me?” Hunter asked dryly, my eyes adjusting to the dark more and making out the three of them a little better.

“He’s going to fucking kill her, man. Tell me right now if you guys were playing some kind of game. Did she fuck him over?” I demanded, relaxing when he scoffed.

“No. Don’t get me wrong, I’d bend her over the second she let me, but I’m not doing anything out of spite, and she never once stepped out on him with me. I was honestly just helping her because you pricks ignored her phone calls as always and she was stuck with a dead body.”

“That’s what I told Skeet. He’s lost it. Threatened to put me in a hole if I go after her for answers. Have you heard from Lukas or Jensen? Who the fuck does she have on her side right now?”

“I spoke to Jense this morning,” Tyler claimed, not sounding too happy. “They’re on the fence. They believe more was going on, but they also want answers. Jense is busy dealing with Luke spiraling, so they’re at Jensen’s for a while until they get a grip on the situation. Caden’s with Skeet, right?”

“Yeah. I’ve been in the office most of the day because I almost shot Matteo earlier, but they’ve all been having a good laugh about the whole thing. I heard something about Skeet and Caden finding Hunter’s clothes in Rory’s closet, but so far there’s been no exact plans of harm thrown her way. I can’t help her without getting my ass put in the ground. Do you guys know what’s happening with the case?” I asked, a little desperate for literally any information.

Hunter leaned back against his car and crossed his arms, continuing to smoke.

“All I know is she’s in Lexi’s cell block, and one of the lifers in there is sitting with her at meal times so she’s not alone. Josie’s got Kirk Jennings representing her, so hopefully, that helps.”

“What evidence do they have?”

“Eye witness and the apparent murder weapon. They’re pushing Rory for information on the whereabouts of Max’s body, but so far there’s no concrete proof that she did anything. We dealt with the body, cleaned the scene, then burned it down to make sure it was all gone. We ran a check for local camera footage and found nothing too. I need to find out who the fucking witness is so I can silence them. No witness and no body? The apparent murder weapon becomes useless. The worst they can get her with is having an unmarked firearm. We disposed of the weapon ourselves, so we have no idea what the fuck they have,” he replied with annoyance. “They’re keeping it tight-lipped about who the witness is. With her connections to the crews, I’m not surprised. They know someone will want to make them vanish.”

“Is Lexi looking after her in there?” I asked hopefully, hearing Marco chuckle.

“No, but she won’t shiv her or anything. Lex hates her for waving a gun at Myles. If Rory’s smart, she’ll hook up with one of the lifers and play good little prison wife until she gets out.”

“She’s not into girls,” Tyler huffed, only making Marco shrug.

“So? A lot of them aren’t. Girls get lonely or desperate. They want protection, or affection to help them cope. Skeet’s not setting the other girls on her, right?”

“I hope not, but I doubt he’d tell me if he was. He knows my feelings on the situation,” I grumbled, looking at Tyler. “I take it you believe she wasn’t hooking up with them?”