As soon as Zack got to the courthouse, he was ushered into a conference room where the District Attorney prosecuting his case, Detective Samuels, and a female detective sat, along with a stenographer and Zack’s attorney.

“Mr. Leoni, I presume?” the detective asked.

Zack had never met the big man face to face, but he’d been around San Antonio long enough to know who he was. “Yes sir, Detective Samuels?” he asked, extending his hand. Detective Samuels shook his hand and turned to the female detective and said, “This is Detective Flowers. She was one of the original detectives on the River Walk robbery case.” She was a fifty-something-year-old woman with tight, curly gray hair and a severe look on her face. She shook Zack’s hand as firmly as any man’s hand he’d ever shaken and then she said:

“Have a seat, I’d like to get started.”

Zack took his seat next to Brendan. As soon as he’d sat down Brendan gave his spiel about Zack’s not admitting any fault in the robbery case, only knowledge recently discovered. He also asked the D.A. to state what kind of a deal he might be willing to offer. The D.A. looked pissed, but Zack’s piddling drug charge was nothing compared to San Antonio’s solving a cold robbery/homicide. Zack was sure there were a lot of behind-the-scenes politics going on between the two states. “We’re willing to trade him to SAPD for a gang member they have in custody there who fled charges here in Tennessee.”

“Meaning all the drug and weapons charges will be dropped?”

“Yes.” The D.A. gave Zack a nasty look. Zack gave him a smile.

Brendan looked back at Detective Samuels and said, “And you’re not looking to charge him with anything?”

“Not unless he committed a crime.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Just what I said. If he committed a crime in my neighborhood, I’ll charge him with it. If not, I won’t. Simple.” Zack didn’t know why, but he liked the big detective. Maybe it was the fact that he was not full of shit like some cops that he’d met in his life.

“It’s fine, Brendan,” Zack said. “I didn’t commit any crimes in San Antonio…not since I was a juvenile, anyways.” Samuels laughed and then looked at Detective Flowers and said:

“Back in 2007 a boat on a midnight cruise to raise funds for pediatric cancer research was robbed at gunpoint by two masked and heavily armed people. There were a lot of important, rich people on the boat so of course it was guarded by armed guards, two of them, who were both killed by the robbers. One of the robbers was grazed with a bullet that was found lodged in the side of the boat. Blood and DNA found at the scene not matching either of the guards or anyone on the ship was checked through CODIS. There were no hits. Yesterday, after your friend called me, I had the detective run it again, this time against DNA on file for relative matches. It came back as a relative of yours, Mr. Leoni.”

“My father,” Zack said.

“No. Not your father.”

“I don’t understand. I don’t have any siblings or…shit…”

“I’ll guess that ‘shit’ means you just connected the dots, as did we. The blood belonged to a female and the possibility that female is your mother is 99.9999%.”

“I’ll be damned. She killed a guard?” Zack felt numb. He knew Mona as a lot of things…but a killer? It was hard to process.

“Two guards. According to the witnesses, the ‘skinny man’ shot both guards while the ‘big man’ collected their jewels and cash. Your mother is wanted for grand theft and two murders.”

“Shit,” Zack said again, still feeling stunned.

“You said you have jewelry, Mr. Leoni?” Flowers asked.

Zack’s mouth was dry. How does a man process that the woman who gave birth to him was capable of cold-blooded murder? God only knew what else she had done in her life that nobody but Swinger knew about. They really were meant for each other. “Um…yes, I mean, I don’t have it but I know where you can find it. It’s in a safe inside the Head Hunters clubhouse.” For the first time during the meeting, Detective Flowers showed a twinge of emotion. She looked as stunned as Zack felt when he’d heard about Mona.

“Inside the clubhouse?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” She cleared her throat and took a drink of water. “My first question is how did you know they came from this robbery?”

Zack shook his head. “I didn’t. Years ago, my father bragged to me that he had stolen the jewelry in a robbery. He never gave me any other details and I never asked for any. As you know, he died recently.”

“Yes, that’s still an open case, by the way,” Samuels said. “You don’t have anything to share about that, do you?”

Brendan cleared his throat. “That’s not what we’re here for,” he said.

Samuels rolled his eyes but let it go and Zack went on. “I opened the safe on a recent trip home. I was looking for something else…a family heirloom,” he lied. “I saw that the jewels were still there. I wasn’t sure what to do at that time so I closed the safe and left them there.”

“What about your mother?”

“What about her?”

“Did she know the jewelry was there?”

“I don’t think so. I honestly believe she would have sold them if she had known. My father probably told her he got rid of them, or never told her about those at all. She didn’t have any knowledge of the safe or the combination.”

“But she does now?” Flowers asked.

“She knows about the safe and the jewelry, but she still doesn’t have the combination, or access to it.”

“Why wouldn’t she have access?”

“She doesn’t live at the clubhouse any longer She was asked to leave.”

“And where does she live now?”

“I honestly don’t know. If I were you, I’d check the local motels. When she left, she didn’t have much money.”

“Why was she asked to leave?” Samuel’s asked.

Zack shrugged. “Club business, I suppose. I didn’t question it much. She and I have never been close.”

“So, if I get a warrant and go into that clubhouse, those jewels will be in that safe? You aren’t going to tip off your friends down in Texas and have them move them?”

“Of course not,” Zack said, trying to sound innocent.

“Mr. Leoni, why are you doing this?” Flowers asked.

Zack smiled, looked her in the eye, and said, “To save my own ass.” That wasn’t completely true. If not for Nicole and Liam, he most likely would have taken the five-year deal and done the time. It wasn’t something he’d want to do, or be happy about, but in his life, it was all a part of paying your dues. When he got out after five years, if Spider was still alive, he probably would have killed him. Meeting a woman and falling in love with her and a little boy had changed all his standards, and now he had no idea if he’d ever even see either of them again.

The meeting went on for what seemed like hours, but when Zack walked out he walked out a free man, as long as he agreed to testify in court if he was needed. That would hurt in more ways than one. If they found Mona and she was convicted, she’d be looking at the death penalty in Texas. As much as he hated having any feelings for her other than loathing, there was still that little voice inside that kept telling him, she’s still your fucking mother. He wished that he could reach inside his head and tear that part out.

He got on his bike in front of the courthouse and just sat there for a long while. He had a decision to make. He was free to get back out on the road, but that meant leaving Nicole and Liam alone in Tennessee with Spider. Nicole didn’t want his help, or his protection. Spider was going to use Zack against her whether he had charges pending or not. Unfortunately, he knew the decision was really already made for him. He started the bike and headed back to the clubhouse to get his things and his next assignment from Stone. It might actually feel good to get back on the road where he belonged and be free again. That was his life, and being in “love” had only complicated everything. Maybe time and distance was what he needed. By the time he came back in six months, maybe Nicole and Liam would be a distant memory.

* * *

“You’re really leaving?” Hashtag sat watching Zack pack his things.

“Yep, it’s time.”

“And what about Nicole?”

Zack shrugged. “She doesn’t want me hanging around.”

“Bullshit. Stacey says she’s miserable.”

“She told me herself, Hash.” Zack sighed. It had been two days since his meeting with the cops. They had found the jewelry at the clubhouse and put out an APB on Mona. Nothing else was found at the clubhouse that they could charge anyone with. Detective Samuels had called that “Peculiar.” Zack was glad they were on the phone and not in person because he couldn’t hold back his smile. He was free to go and Stone had given him an assignment and he hadn’t heard a word from Nicole, so there was nothing stopping him. “She has to think about her kid, and I don’t blame her for that. I hope it all works out for her but I’m not going to sit around here and wait for her call.”

Hashtag nodded. “I feel you, man. But…”

“No buts. I’m hitting the road. It’s my job. She has my number if she needs me, and that’s the best I can do.”

“Where are you headed?”

“Stone is sending me to meet with a club down near the border of Mexico in Texas. They got some big deal going with luxury cars that he wants to get in on.”

“That might be fun. I might volunteer for that job if we get it,” Hash said. “Like Fast and Furious shit. I’d be one hell of a Vin Diesel.”

Zack laughed. “Okay,” he said with an eye-roll as he zipped up his bag. He put out his hand and Hash took it. “I’ll see you soon, brother.”

“Safe journeys, man.” Zack took his things downstairs and said his goodbyes to Stone and the others. As he got on his bike he realized it was the first time in the three years he’d been a nomad with the club that he had any regrets about leaving. He loved being on the open road and he used to love being with a different woman every night. He had no idea what the fuck he’d do about that now. All he could think about was Nicole. Would he even be able to get it up for another woman? Shit. He started up the bike and headed out the gates. He turned to the left toward the highway that would take him toward Texas but before he got a mile down the road, he flipped a U-turn and headed for Memphis. It wouldn’t hurt to at least say goodbye…at least he hoped it wouldn’t.