CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

AJ had gone to Bella’s house upon the insistence of her girlfriends. So much had happened to her in such a brief period of time, and they rallied around her now. She was so thankful for these girls; they were her lifelines in a storm.

They sat out on Bella’s screened-in porch and watched the sunset. Bella had made them a pitcher of margaritas, and she was trying so hard to help her friend cheer up—all the girls were.

She’d passed on the alcohol, choosing lemonade instead.

They’d hugged and let her rail against the injustice of it all, against the bad luck that befell her at seemingly every turn, first with Gregg, and now with Derek.

Would life never stop fucking with her? Bella had yelled at the heavens on her behalf.

AJ tried to smile, but it was hard. She was worried about the arsons, but now she was more worried about Derek. She knew he didn’t do this, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still in trouble up to his neck. Lots of innocent people went to prison; she heard stories about it all the time.

When her girlfriends saw him at the hospital for the first time, saw the boots, the vest, the tattoos, and realized he was a biker, their concern for her skyrocketed. He said all the right things, yes, but that didn’t make him a knight in shining armor in their eyes. Nope.

When first they had encouraged this new man in her life and her decision to finally date again, now they discouraged her and hesitated about her involvement. They tried to convince her that the police were most likely correct in their accusations, and she was lucky to be rid of him.

She knew they only had her best interests at heart, but she couldn’t bear to hear it all. Still, she tried to change their mind, tried to explain to them the man she saw, insisting he was innocent.

“If only you could have seen the way he was with Holly—so gentle and caring. And what he did for Shelby—making her feel safe testifying in court. And me—he closed a nightclub down just to have a quiet dinner with me. He’s not the man you’re dismissing him as.”

They all got quiet, but she saw the looks they exchanged.

“I don’t know when I’m going to see him again. And it hurts. It hurts so much.” She started crying, and the girls soon surrounded her in a group hug.

“It’s going to be all right. You have to believe that,” Amy whispered.

“I know. I know.” AJ wiped her eyes.

“We all need to cheer up.” Bella went to refill the empty pitcher, and AJ excused herself to use the restroom. Making her way down the hall, she ducked inside and took out her cell phone.

Her hand moved over the screen, and she put it to her ear. It only rang twice before Blood answered.

“Yeah, babe?”

He must have recognized her number by now; she’d called him enough times.

“Have you heard anything?”

She heard him blow out a slow breath. He had heard, but it must be bad news if he was hesitant to tell her.

“They denied bail.”

“What? Why?” She felt her heart sinking. She wanted Undertaker home, dammit. She needed him. She couldn’t stand to think of him behind bars.

“They have strong evidence against him. That and who he is, his position in the club, no way he was getting bail. The DA made sure of it.”

She bit her lip. “Blood, I’ve been thinking about that gas can.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I remembered something. When we were riding the other day, Undertaker said he saw that ex-con—the one we’d seen before.”

“And?”

“He recognized the girl with him. I remember Undertaker mentioning that it was odd because he’d helped her fill her tank one afternoon on the side of the road.”

“The gas can! That’s how they got his prints.”

“Then they’re the ones who set the fire!” Her heart soared with the hope that everything could be explained.

“Yeah, probably, but can we prove it?”

At Blood’s reminder that in the justice system it was all about what could be proved, her heart sank again. “I need him, Blood. I need him out of there.”

“I know you do, babe. We’re working on it. Let me see what I can dig up on that ex-con. Maybe we can find something that connects him to the fire.”

“All right. But please, Blood, will you take me to see him tomorrow?”

“I’ll call you. I’ve got to go.”

He disconnected, and she stared down at her phone. Her wallpaper popped back up on the screen, and she smiled down at the photo of her and Undertaker, the two of them so happy, then she remembered that other shot he’d taken, the one he threatened to change her wallpaper to. She scrolled through her pictures until she found it, the one with her in his bed with just a sheet yanked up to her breasts, him cuddled next to her grinning at the camera.

She smiled. It was a good shot. And then she noticed the timestamp on it. 6:45 a.m. the day of the fire—the exact time of the video surveillance footage. This was it! This could prove he was innocent!

And then her smile faded as she studied herself in that picture. She’d have to show that to the attorney, the DA, the judge, maybe even others, and it put her in the bed of the president of the Evil Dead MC.

If this leaked to the media, it would destroy her reputation, her career, possibly even her charity—everything she’d worked so hard for years to achieve. She’d lose it all. Her hand dropped to cover her lower belly. But she had much more to lose now than her career. She didn’t care if she had to give up her career, she’d have Undertaker—Undertaker and his baby—and in the end, that was all that mattered.

She walked back out to the porch.

Her friends were sitting in the wicker furniture, their glasses refilled.

“Bella made another batch, honey. We poured you one,” Kelsey said.

“No thanks.”

Amy immediately noticed her expression. “What is it?”

She bit her lip. “I just realized I might have something that could free Derek.”

They all exchanged a look that said this wasn’t really good news in their opinion.

Bella sat forward. “What is it?”

AJ hesitated a moment, knowing how they felt about the relationship and a little shy to show her friends the picture. She also wondered if it would be harder or easier to show it to complete strangers.

Opening her phone, she pulled up the shot and turned the screen so they could see. They all leaned forward to look at it. Amy was the first to respond.

“Are you insane? Your career will be ruined if that’s exposed in the media!”

Kelsey was a little gentle in her appeal. “Sweetheart, you’re in bed with an MC member.”

“Not just a member, but the goddamn president.” Bella always told it like it was.

“It’ll be all over the news, honey,” Kelsey continued.

Amy stared into her eyes. “AJ, you’ll never work again. Who’s going to want to bring their kid to you for counseling? What court is going to want your testimony in another domestic abuse case after this? Your years of expertise will be worth nothing.”

“And for a biker?” Bella asked. “Is it worth throwing away your life for him?”

She dipped her head, her voice shaking as she murmured, “But I love him…”

Her friends surrounded her in an embrace.

“Oh, honey. You have to let him go, surely you can see that.”