Page 35 of My Temptation

“You played it smart.” Brody commended the group. “Leaving Ethan outside to wave us in saved us a lot of fucking time getting the EMTs inside.”

And there it was. Proof that she’d done the right thing and I was out of line with my accusations. Although I didn’t need proof. I never doubted she knew what she was doing. She’d been trained for this shit, but that knowledge didn’t stop my fear from taking over.

“Where’re we at with your charges?” Jax asked Brody.

“Your charges?” Striker looked confused, and I realized no one had told him what happened after he was taken away in the ambulance. “What the fuck were you charged with?”

“Assault.” Jax gestured toward the sling on his arm and sat back in his seat.

“Who did you assault?”

“A cop.” Nick answered instead of Brody or Jax.

“Why the hell did you assault a cop?” Striker glanced between them before focusing on Brody once again.

When Brody sighed heavily and looked like he wasn’t going to answer, Mila spoke up. “He was defending you. The cop got in his face, blamed you for the shootings because you rushed in without backup, and Brody told him to shut the hell up.” She chuckled. “The cop did not like that. Words were exchanged, and the next thing we knew, Brody tackled his ass to the ground.”

Beth’s eyes widened. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“Thanks for sharing,” Brody said sarcastically to Mila.

“He was gonna find out anyway. It’s probably all over town by now.” She smiled and sat back. “Especially since you broke the little fucker’s nose.”

I didn’t know how Mila knew that, but I wasn’t surprised she did.

“Jesus,” Striker mumbled, sounding a little frustrated, but I couldn’t contain my grin at Mila’s description of events. I was there when it happened, and it was pretty damn accurate. Although, I had my doubts Brody would’ve backed off had Cam and Nick not intervened.

“That’s what I said.” Jax nodded but then smirked at Striker. “Told him that’s the shit you pull.”

Striker snorted, and it was one of the first times since I started that Striker and Jax shared a moment in which they both agreed. They usually came to a solution from different sides and ended up arguing, but not today. I think they were both happy that everyone made it through that today with only a few injuries.

Striker shifted his attention back to Brody. “You dislocate your shoulder when you hit the ground?”

“Yeah.” Brody sighed. “Talked to Cam this morning. Looks like they’re dropping the charges since both parties swung.”

“Not surprised.” I felt Mila’s stare on my face when I finally spoke. I was often quiet in these meetings. I still felt like I was learning, and a lot of that happened just listening in the meetings. Most of the people in this room had either been in the military or had special training to make them more qualified for these jobs. I didn’t. I came here as a skinny kid just trying to figure out where the hell I belonged and what I was good at. “Cam did not look happy with the cop when he started talking shit.”

“What was his name?” Striker asked.

“Who the fuck cares?” Jax scoffed. “He’s not gonna be there long if he doesn’t start acting like a team player.” He glanced over his shoulder and called out when there was a knock on the door. “Come in.”

Cam walked through the door just as Striker addressed Brody. “How long you in that?”

“Couple of weeks.”

“Alright.” Jax rubbed his hands together. “We’re all here now. Beth, we need to talk to you about what happened after you shot Skinner.”

Beth nodded and faced the head of the table. We knew she’d shot Max Skinner using Striker’s gun, but unfortunately, it had only grazed him, which didn’t slow him down much. “Where would you like me to start?”

Cam settled back in his seat. “How about after you shot him?”

“Okay.” She was silent for only a moment before she began speaking. “Umm…after I shot him, he seemed surprised. I took a step out in front of Striker because I was afraid he might shoot him again. But then Striker groaned, and when I glanced down at him, Max hit me in the temple with something hard. I think it was his gun because it felt really heavy. Then I woke up in that place. I thought it was some type of storm shelter, but you guys keep calling it a bunker, so I guess I was wrong.”

“Skinner’s cousin was preparing for the apocalypse.” Kyle rested his folded hands on his stomach. “That’s how we found you. I went through old social media shit; found he talked a lot about the end of the fucking world and how he would be the lone survivor and finally dug up some old sale papers on the land that bunker is on.”

“But it was beneath the ground.” Beth asked what I thought was a very good question. “How did you find it?”

“Raided his house.” Mila gestured at me, and I knew she would reference the last time we’d been in the cousin’s house. “The first time we did that, we specifically searched Skinner’s things, but this time, we searched the cousin’s stuff and found a map in a tube in the basement rafters. Led us right to you.”

---