DORIAN

 

I’d never had a reason to go to the police station. I was the only Black Reaper whose record was completely spotless. I knew that there was a possibility that would change once I got patched in. I was prepared for it.

As I sat underneath the yellow lights of the small room, I leaned forward with my elbows propped up on the table. My head rested in my palm with an index finger rubbing against my temple.

I was still feeling the effects of all of Logan’s punches. The bastard hit like a truck. I didn’t realize until now how fortunate I was that I was always on his side when we got into scraps.

The door opened and a familiar-looking hard-ass woman stepped inside. The federal agent who led a task force that had the entire town on edge plopped down a manila folder in front of me.

“You wanna tell me what happened?”

I looked up at her. Agent Lieberman crossed her arms as she tried to burn a hole through me with her stare. I was too tired to even pretend I was intimidated by her.

“You know what happened,” I said.

“Humor me.”

“Where should I start?” I sighed.

“The Cobras’ warehouse.”

I leaned back and slumped in my seat.

“It was Logan,” I said.

“You were good friends with Logan. You two grew up together.”

“That’s right.”

“How do I know that you and Logan weren’t working together?”

She kept glaring at me. All of the other cops in this town didn’t share her demeanor. A small town like Ivory… People didn’t waste their energy on being so serious.

“Because we weren’t,” I said.

“Can you prove it?”

“Can you prove that I was involved?”

“Your association with Logan is enough.”

“My association with Logan ended years ago. Tonight was the first time I ever saw him since…”

“Since when?”

I clenched my jaw. I wasn’t about to bring back memories I didn’t want to think about. Not for Lieberman. Not for anybody.

“If you wanna charge me, then charge me,” I said.

I glared back at her. I dared her to try and pin any charges on me. She knew as well as I did that nothing would stick. I was innocent in all of this.

“You were there when the Cobras’ warehouse exploded,” she said.

“So was another Cobra.”

“It’s no secret the Reapers and the Cobras have beef with each other. Blowing up a rival gang’s warehouse… That sounds like a good possibility.”

“If I were gonna blow up that warehouse, I think I’d do a better job than being right next to it when it happened.”

“Or maybe you just wanted to make it look like you’re innocent. You wanna play the victim because it’ll make it less obvious.”

Her arms still crossed, Lieberman kept staring at me. There was barely enough light in the room to see her face but I could still see her unblinking gaze locked on me.

I looked at the side of the room and sighed.

“Logan was my friend,” I said. “But I lost him that day on the battlefield. The Logan I knew was gone.”

I turned back to her.

“If you want to put an innocent man behind bars, then do it. I won’t put up a fight. I know how corrupt you motherfuckers can be. But you know damn well that I’ve got no business in this room.”

She didn’t respond. She just kept looking at me like she was trying to break me.

“Amy’s Bakery—”

“Someone I care about works at Amy’s Bakery,” I said. “If I blew up the place she worked at, that would make me a real shitty person.”

“And tonight—”

“Tonight, I saved a man I didn’t care for. If you told me Adams was dead, I won’t lie. I wouldn’t give a shit about him. But I wasn’t about to let an innocent man die.”

Before Lieberman could continue her interrogation, the door opened. Sheriff Sutton stepped into the room.

He walked up next to the agent and whispered into her ear. I couldn’t tell what he was saying. The look on Lieberman’s face didn’t change.

After a few seconds, she turned back toward me.

“…You’re free to go,” she said.

I jumped out of my seat and kicked my chair back. I didn’t look at her as I walked by her toward the exit but I could feel her eyes still on me.

“Right this way, Dorian,” Sutton said as he escorted me out of the interrogation room.

As I made my way down the police station hallway, my thoughts were distracted by the one thing keeping me going.

“Gina,” I said. “The Grindhouse. The club. Are they—”

“They’re all right,” Sutton interrupted me. “Bomb squad took care of it after your friend defused it. Logan confessed to all of it.”

“Logan… Can I talk to him?”

“It’ll be awhile before he can talk to anybody. He confessed to everything.”

I stopped in my tracks.

“He talked about the explosives he put together. He talked about the places he targeted. He talked about abducting that firefighter and making you chase him. It was all a plan to pin it on you. But it failed.”

“What about Graham?” I asked. “He had to have been involved in all of this.”

“He was. Just a disgruntled homeless man that Logan hired to work for him. He figured he didn’t have much to lose either. He wanted to watch Ivory burn as much as Logan did. A couple of war vets like them… Angry at the world… I can’t imagine the kind of trauma they’ve been through.”

“They’ve been through too much… They deserve some kind of leniency.”

“You know arson won’t go unpunished. Not in this town. And not with someone like Lieberman hanging around. Logan and Graham are gonna get what’s coming to them.”

I looked down at the ground and sighed again. I didn’t want to think about everything that was about to happen to my friend even though there was no way around it.

“She knew,” Sutton said.

“What?”

“Lieberman knew. Logan confessed but she already had people scouting all over town. They scooped up that Warlock fellow, too, I think his name was…”

“She… knew? But why would she just interrogate me—”

“I don’t know, kid. I can’t explain the way she does things. Maybe she was just testing you.”

Sutton put a hand on my shoulder.

“Look, I’m not a fan of any of the clubs in this town. If it were up to me, you’d all be banned from wearing those kuttes. But I know you, Dorian. You’re a good kid. You’ve been a town hero ever since you were in high school. Don’t ever forget who you are.”

He poked a finger into my chest. Seeing the old man smile made me chuckle.

“There’s someone here to see you,” he said.

“There is?”

“They’re out front. You take care now, kid.”

I gave Sutton a nod goodbye and walked through the police station.

As soon as I got out, I saw all of the people who mattered most waiting for me.

Gina stood there with the Reapers behind her. Garnet. Ghost. Needle. Brawn. Petey. They were all there.

“Dorian!”

Gina rushed up to me and wrapped her arms around me. Despite all of the blood and sweat and mud I was covered in, she still held me tight.

I closed my eyes as I squeezed her close to me. I kissed her on the top of the head and sighed before pulling away from her. All of the emotions in her eyes had never made me feel so good.

“I promised,” I said.

“Yeah,” she whispered. “You did…”

“Sully!”

Garnet’s voice boomed as he walked up to me. I realized that he went through as much shit as I did.

“You got all your shit straightened out?”

“I’m sorry,” I said as I shook my head. “All of the shit I put the club through—”

“Don’t fucking apologize now,” he said. “You’re wearing that patch. You’re one of us. I don’t ever wanna hear you say you’re sorry for getting into some shit. When you’re a Reaper, it’s bound to happen.”

I couldn’t say much. Garnet didn’t seem upset that I’d put him and the rest of the club through all of that.

“It’s over,” he said.

All of the other club members greeted me with smiles and hugs.

“You finally getting some jail time?” he said.

“No,” I replied. “My record is still spotless.”

“Give it some time. The Reapers will have you getting your hands dirty eventually.”

“I don’t think we should be discussing shit like that in front of a police station surrounded by pigs,” Needle said.

“Good point,” Garnet said. “Let’s go fucking celebrate at the clubhouse, boys!”

“It’s still in one piece?” I asked.

“Even if it were burned down to the foundation, you know the Reapers would still ride, brother. Let’s go!”

The Reapers all cheered as we left the police station. I put an arm around Gina while she hugged me.

The sky was dark. The rain was still pouring. I didn’t know what time it was. But it didn’t matter. Ivory was my town. There wasn’t a more beautiful place in the world.