A sound I don’t recognize rips out of me, and the next thing I know Trunk is holding me up.
“You’re okay, brother. I’ve gotcha.”
When we finally walk out the night is already dark, but my step is lighter. I left a heavy load in that shed.
My pace increases as we head for the clubhouse, suddenly eager to see Sophia.
“So…twins?” Trunk rumbles beside me.
“Yeah.”
I actually manage a smile.
“Shee-it.”
Pushing open the door my eyes immediately scan the space, looking for her. A group of brothers is hanging around the bar and Lisa, who was sitting at the large dining table with Nosh, gets to her feet when she sees me.
“Where is she?”
“Ouray’s office with Luna,” she says, but when I try to walk past she grabs my arm. “First you need to look in on the boy.”
I know instinctively she’s talking about Ravi and a wave of guilt washes over me. I dumped him here early this morning and took off without a second thought.
“Shit.”
“Yeah,” Lisa mumbles. “Been hiding in your old room all day with that dog. Brick and I tried to talk to him, get him to come out for something, but that damn dog wouldn’t let us get close.”
Okay, change of plans.
I head down the hall and pause outside the door, knocking lightly. A soft growl can be heard on the other side of the door.
“It’s me, boy. Easy.”
I open the door slowly. The dog is standing at the foot of the bed, his body squared up and almost vibrating with tension. He turns his head to the bed before looking at me again, clearly torn between greeting me and protecting the kid.
Ravi is curled up on the far corner of the mattress, still in the clothes I found him in this morning. He hasn’t even had a shower.
I ease the door shut behind me and hold out a hand for the dog, who sniffs the air but won’t budge from his spot.
“It’s okay, Van. Come here, boy,” I whisper.
He takes a tentative step forward, but stops when Ravi’s voice sounds from the bed.
“Tse?”
“Yeah, kid.”
In a flash he’s off the bed and plows into me. His spindly arms wrap around my waist for a tight hug before he releases me and steps back. I bend down to greet the dog, who now feels secure enough to approach.
“She okay?” I can hear the anxiety in his voice. “Brick came to the door and said you found her.”
“Yeah, we found her, kid. And she’s gonna be just fine. Just got banged up a little.”
“Where is she?”
“Getting cleaned up.” The dog is whining by the door. “Has he been out at all?”
The guilty expression on the boy’s face is answer enough. Poor dog has to be about to spring a leak after being locked in for probably close to twelve hours.
“Tell you what. You take Van and give him a chance to do his business; I’ll go check in with Sophia. You can come see us in Ouray’s office after.”
“Okay.”
He darts out of the room, Van glued to his side, and I’m starting to wonder who that dog belongs to.
Sophia
I take the last sip of tea Luna brought me; although I’d much rather have a swig of something stronger.
Lisa whisked me through the clubhouse, through Ouray’s office, and straight into the surprisingly nice suite right beside it. I lost sight of Tse, but when I mentioned I was worried about him, she said Brick had him. She had clean towels for me in the bathroom and I took a long shower, despite the doctor’s suggestion I wait a day. I had to scrub my body and wash my hair several times to get the stench of death off me.
Lisa was waiting with a clean change of clothes from her own closet when I got out. She suggested the stitches on my face would heal better exposed to the air and helped me change the dressing on my chest. She did it with tears in her eyes, and I badly wanted to cry with her but was afraid if I started I wouldn’t be able to stop.
I knew Luna wanted to talk to me and I preferred getting that part over with sooner rather than later. So, for the last hour or so I’ve gone over the past twenty-four hours, telling her what I know. Unfortunately, other than my trip in the trunk of that car, I remember everything in great detail.
“Any word on Mandy?” I ask her.
“I actually just got a message from Gomez,” she says, running her finger over the screen on her phone. “Uh, she’s out of surgery. Brain bleed, but they relieved the pressure and she’s stable for now. “
“Almost the same as Bernie,” I comment.
Something flashes across Luna’s face as she tucks her phone away.
“What?”
She blows out a breath through pursed lips and her eyes make it up to mine.
“They found Bernie and his sister.”
There’s something about the way she says it that has my breath get stuck in my throat.
“Oh, no…” I manage.
“When local feds flew the drone over the grounds, they spotted a patch of earth behind the complex that looked freshly turned. This afternoon they dug up their remains.”
I surge to my feet and rush to the bathroom, when the cup of tea I just finished makes its way back up. Luna follows me and has a wet washcloth ready when I’m done tossing my cookies.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbles. “I didn’t want to tell you, at least not yet, but I don’t want to lie to you either.”
“It’s okay.” I wipe my mouth and face. “I think part of me already knew.”
“You know, you’re right though, one of the Amontinados we took into custody had a makeshift sap tied to his belt. No more than a tube sock with a pool ball tucked inside, but an effective and potentially deadly weapon. We think he’s the
