Damn, all this acting she had been doing lately was really starting to get to her; if she wasn’t putting a show on for Tank and the Brothers at the MC, she had to put one on for Cinny and Addy.  It was exhausting, and she was starting to wonder if she would ever find herself again after this was all over.  She wasn’t the person she was playing.  She wasn’t timid, shy, or a doormat.  She most definitely wasn’t a whore, no matter how many times or the way people said it, the words never sat well with her.  She was doing something to help people and no way would she let other people’s views of her cause her shame.  It was hard, but she hoped, in the end, it would all be worth it.

Reagan went back to the grocery store. It had been too long, and she knew it. She just hoped that SlimJim and Flo hadn’t left, but if wishes were horses and all that shit, she wasn’t that lucky.  When she couldn’t find them, she decided to head back to the Clubhouse, the entire time praying the guys were still out.  Biting her lip, she winced at the pain, shit, she was going to have to come up with something to explain that. Maybe the guys at the MC would believe she ran into a door or fell.  It was worth a try, anyway.

When the cab dropped her off at the Clubhouse, she noticed that all the bikes were there, that didn’t bode well for her. For a split second, she considered going in the back door and sneaking upstairs.  It was worth a shot. She could get to work without having to tell another lie, but her hopes of that happening quickly faded when Creed, the prospect guarding the gate, yelled at her to get her ass inside.  At first, his tone and stance took her off guard. Creed was one of the nice ones, he had never raised his voice to her before. When she started walking forward without saying anything to him, Reagan begun to notice other things. 

There were more Brothers on the premises than usual, some of them openly carrying guns, and others seemed to be hyper-alert, watching her every move, it was eerie. 

Going up to the door, she walked right in and was beyond surprised at what she found. The place was a mess, but not in the usual way, from a hard night of partying. It was trashed, furniture was busted, and if she wasn’t mistaken, there was blood on the floor.  She only made it a couple of steps inside when Tuck saw her.

“You in my office, right fucking now,” Tuck bellowed.  Reagan couldn’t help but look around her. Surely, he wasn’t talking to her? What the hell had happened while she was gone? 

Catching Tank's eye, he stood up from his barstool he and started to stalk toward her. Damn it.  She was at a loss, everyone looked so pissed.  She was more scared standing where she was that she had ever been in her life, and that was saying something.  Before Tank made it to her, Tuck grabbed her arm and started leading her down the hall. 

“Reagan,” Tank yelled out, “get your ass back here.”

Like she had a choice. Tuck was the President, he was also pulling her, not stopping, but Tank looked like he thought it was her choice. 

“Not now, Tank,” Tuck yelled.

Once they got to the door to his office, Tuck pushed her inside and said, “Sit.”  She did as he commanded, there was no way in hell she would ever defy this man.  He didn’t scare her per se, but he did bring out her needed to submit.  No one messed with Tuck.

“Where were you, Rae?”

Reagan almost lied, but she had never lied to Tuck before, and she wasn’t going to start now. 

“I needed to get the last of the information, Tuck.  I’m sorry I broke the rules, but time is running out.”

“Honey, we put those rules in place to protect everyone. I don’t like what you did. Did you get what you needed? Because this cloak and dagger shit you’ve been pulling for the last six months is coming to an end.  I kept my word, and now it’s your turn.”

“I have it all now, I just need to go through it, but Tuck what happened?  Why is everyone so mad and the clubhouse is trashed?  I was only gone a couple of hours.”

“Shit hit the fan. Vultures broke in, held a couple of the brothers at gun point.” 

“Oh, my God, Tuck, is everyone okay.  Do you need me to do anything?”

“Nothing for you to do, and everyone is okay, some bumps and bruises, nothing we haven’t had before. What I need to find out is how they got in.  You know anything about that?”

“You think I had something to do with it? Tuck, I would never betray you or the club.”

“Didn’t believe that you would hon, but you, SlimJim, and Flo are the only ones who weren’t here. Hell, SlimJim and Flo still haven’t shown up. I need to know what the three of you did when you left.  Anyway, you have too much on the line to fuck with the MC or me, and I know it.”

“Thanks, Tuck and I’m sorry for leaving, I just didn’t feel like a had a choice.”

“Hon, there are always choices, but that isn't either here nor there.  What happened?”

“Nothing really unusual. Blade said that SlimJim could take me to the store, but he was busy with Flo, so I asked her if she wanted to come and she did.  They were a bit distracted with each other, but again that’s not unusual.  We went to the store, and I told them I could do the shopping if they wanted to do other things; they agreed and left.  Nothing more.  I went back to the store, and they were gone.”

“Who was manning the gate when you left?”

“No one.  The gate was open, but I didn’t see any of the guys or Prospects around.  Shit, Tuck, I’m sorry, I didn’t think anything of it at the time.” 

“Okay, thanks, hon, that’s all I needed. I want to you to go up to your room and stay there.  Everyone is on edge, and I don’t like the idea of you getting caught in the crossfire.  Get your information together and come and see me.”

“It’s time for you to move on. I don’t like the way you’ve changed since you started staying here, this isn’t the place for you honey.  I wish I could tell you that Tank is going to change, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.  You need to move on from him and Defiance.”

Reagan wanted to cry, but she also knew that in some ways Tuck was right, she had changed, only not in the ways he thought.  She had given him the basics of what she was doing when she asked for his help six months ago, but she never told him all of it, too afraid he would have taken over or made her go to the cops. She couldn’t risk that because then Brayden would never know that he wasn’t the cause of that accident, his father was behind all of it.  She just needed to line up the payments; once she did that she would give him the information and Tuck the rest. 

The RBMC needed to know that three of Defiance’s most influential people were after them or at least trying to shut them down.  These men and women had become a real family to her in the months that she had stayed there, and she would do anything in her power to protect them; if that meant handing everything over and running that was exactly what she was going to do.

“Thanks for everything, Tuck, please just give me a couple of hours, and I will give you everything.  I know this hasn’t been easy for you, not knowing exactly what I’ve been up to, but please know it was for the best, and I promise you nothing will come back on the RBMC.”

“You know I can set it up for you to go to Lexie after you’re done.”

“That’s not a good idea, Tuck.  Bobby’s watching me right now, and once this all blows up, there is no doubt in my mind that the people I’ve been looking into will be able to figure out I’m the cause of their downfall.  From what you have told me, Lexie is healthy and happy, that’s going to have to be good enough for me right now.  Maybe later, once everything cools down.” Reagan forced herself to smile trying to reassure Tuck, but from the looks of it he wasn’t buying it any more than she was. 

“Listen, you know I take back what I said before; if you want to stay here you can, we’ll just have to make some adjustments.”

“Thanks for the offer, Tuck, but you and I both knew this was a short-term deal.  I won’t risk anyone here, and after Tank gets the information I have for him, I have a feeling he’s going to go off the deep end for a while; you’ll need to be there for him, no one else will be able to get through to him.”

“You could.”

“No, I couldn’t. What you see isn’t always what’s going on, Tuck, you know that as well as I do. I’m Tanks favorite target.  He thinks I’m someone I’m not, and I let him. That’s on me, but that all stops soon.  I believe that it’s best if we keep to the plan.”

“Okay, I don’t like any of this, but I’ll let you get your work done.  Come and see me; don’t take off before you do, cuz I’m telling you right now, Reagan, if I find some shit on my desk and no sign of you, I will hunt your ass down. Do you understand?”

Damn it, how had he known that was exactly what she planned on doing?

It had taken her two hours to sort through the information she got today, but she had hit pay dirt.  Reagan was finally able to track all the funds.  Mr. Taylor had used so many different accounts to cover up his treachery, but Reagan had him now.  The pay offs to the mechanic, the police officer on the scene of the accident, Grace Morrison and her family, the ER doctor, all of it.  She even had proof Mr. Taylor had been paying Georgie’s family as well, even before the accident.  The picture it presented was nothing less than horrific.  Reagan would never understand the length Mr. Taylor went to control his only son.