Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 76022 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76022 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Once he stepped past, I grabbed the back of his neck, steering him toward the front of the building and making it impossible for him to turn around and attack me.
“No fucking way,” Sway said, eyes going bright.
“Your ass shoulda been gone,” Saint said, shaking his head.
“Believe me, I would have if the roads weren’t all blocked off.”
“Rafe Marsters,” Slash said. “You are a very wanted man.”
“As far as I can tell, no one has escaped prison and evaded capture for more than two days in the past several years,” Rafe said. “I’m making everyone look bad.”
“Where have you been?” Slash asked. “The mountains?”
“Been moving around,” Rafe admitted. “They’ve been combing the area, but this town has a lot of places to hide.”
“The abandoned buildings?” Sway asked.
“Them, sure. But I’ve been in a couple houses and apartments too. Got me some street clothes and showers. You’d be surprised how unobservant people can be. So, what’s this? Are you turning me in?” Rafe’s gray eyes moved around, then landed on Saint. “Wait. I know you. Well, know of you.”
“Was on the inside too until recently.”
“Wait… so are you not turning me in?” he asked.
Everyone glanced at Slash.
“Depends on what you did to get inside.”
We’d all seen the initial news report about his escape. But they’d been vague about his crimes. Words like ‘violent criminal’ had been thrown around but without the specifics.
We weren’t exactly opposed to violent criminals. Hell, Rook, Colter, Saint, and I were all inside that same prison for violent crimes.
Context mattered.
If he was some serial rapist, woman-beater, or pedo, we’d all personally drag his ass back to the prison. Likely a little bloody and bruised. If psycho-ass Crow didn’t just decide to take him out to the mountains and brutally kill him instead.
“I went in for… fencing stolen goods.”
“Bullshit,” Slash said, eyes narrowing. “News said you were a violent criminal.”
“Yeah, well, on my way in I may or may not have beaten the shit out of one of the cops. He kicked my dog. Fucking pig is lucky he’s still alive.”
“Is the dog okay?” Syn asked the question we were all wondering.
“Wish I knew. Imagine he ended up at the shelter. Pray to fuck it was one of the no-kill ones. Only fucking thing I regret is him going back to one, likely wondering every day what he did wrong…”
Christ.
I was going to have to go find that dog.
“What kinda dog?” Rook asked, already reaching for his phone to start looking through shelter records.
“Aussie. Blue merle and tan. Prettiest dog you’ve ever seen.”
“How long was your sentence?” Slash asked.
“The fencing alone was ten years. The assault on the cop?” he snorted, indicating it would be a long-ass time.
“What was your plan after getting out of Shady Valley?”
“Getting my dog.”
“After that.”
“That was as far as the plan went.”
“Alright, John Wick,” Rook said, “seems like you’re telling the truth about your charges.” Rook passed his phone to Slash.
“So, you’re not going to turn me in then?”
“Nah,” Slash said, shaking his head. “I’m gonna give you a room until we figure out what the fuck to do about you.”
“Yeah?” Rafe asked.
“Yeah. You don’t leave the room. You don’t look out the window. Not even for a second. If you do some stupid shit and bring the law into my house, I’ll kill you myself.”
To that, Rafe nodded. “What about my dog?”
“If he hasn’t been adopted, I will find him,” I assured him.
“Okay.”
“Alright. Saint, Syn, can you show our guest to the third floor?”
If either brother thought it was strange that the guy was going up to a floor where the rest of us rarely even visited, they said nothing. They just led the guy away.
We waited until the elevator was on the move before speaking.
“He can’t stay here,” Colter said. “From a logistical standpoint, he would never be able to step foot outside in this town.”
“I wasn’t planning on keeping him here. But I am considering asking if any of the sister clubs want to take him on. New identity can go a long way if anyone wants his particular set of skills. If not, we can still get him smuggled out once some of the heat dies down. Toss him some money, let him figure out the rest.”
We all nodded at that.
“I’m gonna reach out to Fallon, Huck, and Sutton. See what everyone thinks. From you all, I’m gonna need you to make sure he does what he’s told.”
“I got some blackout film I can put on his window, so he’s not tempted,” I offered.
“Good. Maybe a lock on the door up to the third floor and disable the elevator. We can’t have heat on us. Too many fucking illegal guns in this clubhouse.”
We all nodded our agreement to that.
“I’ll get on the dog angle,” Rook offered. “See if I find a direction to send you in tomorrow.”