CHAPTER THIRTY
Charlotte’s back to work. Taking time off after her uncle’s attack left her with a lot of catching up to do. That’s why I volunteer to help Carter clean out her apartment.
After I load the last box that’s coming to our house into my truck, Carter takes off. “I’m stopping by Bianca’s. She wanted to come over and see my new place.” He hesitates. “If that’s okay.”
“It’s your place.”
“Thanks.”
I wander inside the apartment to give it another look. Since her old bed couldn’t take our furious fucking and left dents in her bedroom wall, I figure it’s only fair I patch it up. I run over the materials waiting for me. Paint, tape, tarp, sheet, roller, pan, knife, and a few other odds and ends.
The knock at the door surprises me at first, but it’s probably the landlord, so I open it, looking forward to scaring the piss out of him after the shitty way he’s treated Carter.
It’s Keeper.
He rears back when he sees me. “What’re you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?”
He stuffs his hands in his pockets and pushes past me. I follow his gaze as he takes in the empty space. “Where’s she going?”
“None of your business.”
“She moving in with you?”
I cross my arms over my chest and don’t bother with an answer.
“That ain’t right. Her dad was a Wolf Knight, you know.”
“Yeah, I’m aware.”
I follow him into the kitchen. “This where she stabbed him?” He shakes his head and stares at the floor as if inspecting for blood drops.
“It’s where he hit her first.”
Keeper grunts and rocks back on his heels a few times before meeting my eyes. “Merlin’s been asking a lot of questions since your visit.”
Good. At least what little concern Merlin showed for his niece wasn’t bullshit. “Anyone got answers for him?”
“He’s asking about shit that happened years ago.”
“You know something about it?”
“I know she brought some gangbanging lowlife to one of our parties one time.”
Rage boils my blood and I take a step closer. “You want to say that again?”
“Never mind.” He attempts to step around me, but I stop him with a hand to his chest.
“Finish your thought.”
The hesitation he walked in here with disappears and he slaps my hand away. “Nothin’ to finish.”
In my pocket, my phone goes off and Keeper tries to shove past me. “Stay put.”
I don’t recognize the number, but that’s not unusual, so I answer.
“Where you at, Teller?” Merlin shouts on the other end.
“At Charlotte’s apartment. Your VP stopped by and we’re having a chat.”
He curses and there’s a crash in the background. “You keep that piece of shit there. I’m on my way over now.”
“You wanna tell me why?”
“Just fuckin’ do it.”
I’d laugh at the frustration in his voice if I wasn’t so focused on keeping the man in front of me in place.
“We’ll be here.” My gaze searches the empty apartment for any potential weapons. We just cleaned my girl’s apartment out, so it’s bare.
“She’s not there?”
“No. It’s just me and Keeper right now.”
“I’m on my way. Do not let him leave.”
I hang up and shove the phone in my pocket. “Your prez is real eager to talk to you.”
“He ain’t my prez anymore, thanks to Charlotte.”
“Yeah, it’s all her fault he snapped and attacked her.”
“I need to be someplace.” He tries going around me again and I stop him.
“Where you off too in such a hurry? You obviously stopped by to talk to Charlotte about something, so speak.”
“It’s none of your business.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Everything about her is my business. And since you’re never getting anywhere near her again, you might as well say what you gotta say to me.”
Quick—but not quick enough—his fist comes flying at my face. I block it easily and use the momentum to turn him and wrench his arm behind his back.
“What’s gotten into you, Keeper?” I snarl.
“You don’t want to start this war, Teller.”
“Oh, I think I do.”
My gaze lands on a roll of duct tape on the counter. I can’t exactly ask him to hold still so I can secure him. Instead, I hook my arm around his neck and use my other arm to tighten the hold, squeezing hard until he slumps to the floor. The fucker’s so heavy, he almost takes me down with him. Once I’m sure he’s out, I release him.
It takes a few seconds to bind his wrists behind his back with the tape and secure his ankles. When I’m finished, I drag him into the bedroom.
I spread out the tarp and roll him onto it.
A few minutes later he’s still out cold when someone’s banging on the front door.
I open it and find a steaming Merlin.
“Guess Whisper let you out of the basement,” I say, opening the door wider.
He growls and shoves his way past me. “Where is that traitor?”
I shut the door. “He’s in the bedroom.”
Merlin’s carrying a lumpy black backpack. I can only imagine the goodies inside.
My hand goes to the pistol in the holster at my side. A last resort, since the sound will draw too much attention. My other hand brushes against the hunting knife strapped to my opposite leg.
“This motherfucker still alive?” Merlin asks, toeing Keeper’s leg with his boot.
“Where’s the love for your bro, Merlin?”
He glares at me. “What do you think?”
“I’m guessing you asked him some questions and don’t like the answers.”
“Gee, you really are as smart as they say,” he sneers. “He did it. Charlotte said there was a second guy. My money’s on Keeper.”
“Why?” Not that I disagree with Merlin’s conclusion, but I’m interested in how he got there.
“He said something about ‘don’t I wish she was still dating thugs’ instead of you.”
“Yeah, he said something similar to us the other day.”
“I asked him what he was talkin’ about. Charlotte never brought any of her boyfriends around the MC. Always liked to pretend she wasn’t related to us lowlife bikers.”
“Can’t imagine why.”
Ignoring the dig, he continues. “His remark didn’t sit right with me.”
At our feet, Keeper groans.
He rolls and sits up, scooting in a circle until he’s facing us. “What the fuck, brother? Untie me.”
Merlin pulls his own hunting knife from a sheath at his side. “We need to talk first.”
Keeper’s eyes widen and his gaze darts between Merlin and me. “You’re siding with him?”
“I’m siding with my niece. Explain what you meant before.”
“What?” he asks, but by the fear in his eyes, he knows exactly what information Merlin’s after.
“Charlotte never brought any boyfriends to our clubhouse. Why do you think she did?”
“I caught her fucking one of those punks from Eighteen’s crew.”
Blood roars through my ears.
“Caught how?” Merlin’s low deadly voice should scare the piss out of Keeper, but he lifts his chin in defiance.
“You need me to draw you a picture?”
Tired of the bullshit, I lash out, kicking Keeper in the groin. He howls and falls back, rolling to his side.
Yeah, that’s a dirty move I normally wouldn’t pull, but it seems appropriate here.
Merlin nods at me in approval.
“What did you do, Keeper?” I ask.
To be fair, I let him have a few seconds to catch his breath.
“Nothing,” he groans. “Nothing she didn’t like.”
My vision blurs red and hazy at the edges.
“You piece of shit,” Merlin growls, kicking Keeper in the side.
Holding Merlin back with a hand on his arm, I tap Keeper with my boot. “Start from the beginning.”
“Fuck,” he groans, rolling over. “I found her in one of the back bedrooms gettin’ railed. Recognized his tats. Figured she brought him to the party and snuck off with him. Always acted like she was better than us, but she’d do one of those guys?”
“And?” Merlin prompts.
“And what?”
“Don’t fucking play games, Keeper. We’re way past that now,” I warn him.
Taking out my own knife, I squat down next to Keeper and show him the eight-inch steel blade. “Start talking or I’m gonna start cutting.”
Keeper’s pleading eyes lock on Merlin. “You’re gonna let him slice me up right in front of you? We’re fuckin’ brothers.”
“A true brother wouldn’t touch my niece.”
“Christ, she’s a fucking piece of pussy, same as the rest of ’em. Needed to be taught a lesson for her disrespect. Bringing that trash into our clubhouse, then spreading her legs for him under our roof? That ain’t right. Now you’re letting her be his fuckin’ whore and busting my balls?”
I grip his hair and tilt his head back, exposing his neck. “What did you do?”
“You gonna let me go if I tell you the truth?”
“Sure.”
Keeper looks to Merlin for confirmation. “Yeah, brother. I’ll make sure he lets you go.”
“Fine. He finished and left her to go talk to Cindy and I took my turn.”
Before I even realize what I’m doing, I drive the knife into his upper thigh and he screams.
“Shut him up,” Merlin snaps.
Clamping my hand over his mouth, I push him flat on his back. “Was she even fuckin’ conscious, Keeper?”
He shakes free of my hold. “She was moaning like a bitch in heat while I fucked every hole.”
I can’t listen to more. I’ve had similar conversations with rapist assholes before. The story’s always the same. I love Charlotte too much to hear another word. Nothing he can tell me will change the past or the outcome.
Pulling his hair tighter, I run the blade over his neck, watching with grim satisfaction as blood pours from the line across his throat. Not deep enough to kill him—that’s going to be too messy and I don’t have the time I need for that sort of clean up.
His body jerks and he gags. He wrenches his shoulders, trying to get free.
I slip my arms under his and lock my hands behind his head, bending his neck forward until there’s a snap and he stops moving. I’m breathing hard but don’t let go until he’s limp.
Merlin watches me with appreciation glowing in his ice-cold eyes.
“He done?”
“I think so.”
“I wanted to fuckin’ gut him.”
“Yeah, well, her landlord’s coming to inspect the place in about twelve hours, so I didn’t think that’d be the best plan.”
“My cage is parked in the alley.”
“We can carry him through the backyard. It’s so fuckin’ overgrown, no one should see anything. Pull your truck right up to the back gate and put the tailgate down.”
I unwrap the tape from Keeper’s wrists and ankles, wadding it into a ball I’ll take with me to throw away later. Merlin helps me roll Keeper up in the sheet and then in the tarp.
“Where you plannin’ to dump him?” I ask.
“SOS has an abandoned hardware store across the border. Gonna dig a hole, throw him in, and light it up.”
That’ll certainly destroy any evidence.
“Let’s go.”
“You’re comin’ with me?” he asks, sounding genuinely surprised. “You already did the dirty work. Least I can do is clean up.”
“Yeah, I’ll help you.”
We may have just killed a man together, but it doesn’t mean I trust Merlin not to fuck me over.