Page 131 of Bleed Me

My heart began to fucking thunder because the Prospect had told me the ‘boyfriend’ had a scar on his right hand. How the fuck would he have known that if the murderer was wearing gloves? And there was the answer. The Prospect couldn’t have. Not unless he knew the ‘boyfriend’ before he ever came to my house in gloves.

Ah, shit.

I had asked Saph not to bring the boyfriend around my kids due to all the danger that was possibly circling us. Now that I was thinking of it, her disregarding my order was so unlike the experienced bunny. She knew what our lifestyle encompassed.

Torque eyed me suspiciously when my body jolted.

No. No. No. No.

As my mind raced with scenarios, the truth started to ring clear. There was never a ‘boyfriend’ at Sapphire’s house that night.

Retrieving my cell from my front jean pocket, I rushed from the pew and out the door. Tapping on the phone to pull up Justice’s cell number, I begged, “Answer, baby. Answer.” All along, Gracie’s little voice echoed, “…da mans…”

Torque was by my side in an instant. “You’re scaring the fuck out of me right now.”

“Gloves… Mans… Diesel killed someone else.” I tried to explain as I called her again.

“Giver, talk to me.”

Meatball rushed to us. “What’s up?”

In frustration, I shook my cell when Justice didn’t answer. “Prospect. Where is the Prospect that was at my house the night Sapphire was killed?”

The Prospect was the only witness who could give a reliable account of what went down that night. Or so I had believed because that is what he wanted me to.

I slammed my hand on the phone. “He said there was only one!”

The Prospect had set up his partner in crime. He let the man with the tattoo take the fall.

My lungs were heaving. “Think about it! Why was our enemy so elusive?” When they just stared at me, I growled, “Because he was under our noses the whole fucking time.”

My mind thought of Art, lying in bed, his soul finding no peace in Seth’s death. His subconscious had been screaming…

Too impatient to wait for my brothers to catch on, I took off running. “I was wrong. The Prospect never had a crush on Justice.”

“Giver! Wait!” yelled Torque.

Already to the court exit, I yelled back. “Don’t you get it? The Prospect is Seth!”

When I turned off my bike’s engine and heard thumping music blasting from my house, I knew he was there. Running into our home, I was horrified to see my children tied in a sitting position, tight gags in their tiny little mouths. They were on the verge of hysterics, tears rushing down red faces. Each of them sat in the middle of their own set of train tracks, with a train circling.

Jenny. “His tracks of hell…”

As soon as I sensed someone enter my door behind me, before I could even reach my children, I spun around, gun ready. Vice, also with a gun, had a raised hand to stop me from shooting him. After he entered, more Stallions poured in, all guns pointed, ready to kill the intruder. No sign of Meatball told me he’d stayed to watch over the child’s family at court.

Thank you, brother.

I rushed into the train track circles and to my babies. Without untying them or cutting the gag from their mouths, so Seth would not be alerted, I kissed them then handed them off to waiting arms. They were passed to Crow, who held one in each arm and ran out the front door.

To the remaining Stallions, I motioned for a few to check downstairs. My gut told me where my wife was. If Seth was as sick as Justice claimed, he had her in our bedroom. I pointed to the stairs, tilting my head to my hand, imitating sleeping, so they knew where I was headed. Gun drawn and trigger finger in place, I snuck up the stairs, skipping every other one. At the top, I put my back to the wall and crept toward where my wife and I laid our heads to dream about the beautiful life we were building together, even with all the odds stacked against us.

Our canopy bed had been Justice’s foe that day. The posts made for the perfect place to tie her wrists and ankles. I could only see her bare chest and the gag in her mouth, due to the naked man standing at the end of the bed. My wife didn’t know I was there. Her beautiful Church Eyes were slammed shut, tears flowing... Her toes and hands were squeezed tight as if trying to handle some sort of pain.

Not even certain what Seth was doing to my wife, one thing I knew for sure was that a bullet would be too kind.

My gun, for the first time in a battle, was put to rest. As I stalked behind the monster who thought I would be gone for hours protecting a child, while he damaged my wife, I pulled out my knife.

The first strike was in his kidney. I ignored his grunt of pain.