Page 26 of Pike’s Redemption

“Yeah,” Pike shoved his hands in his back pockets, looking awkward. “I wanted to make sure you both heard this and Ronnie, this affects you directly in a couple of ways,” he said, giving her a pointed look. That comment made me sit up and move closer to her. What the hell did that mean? Ronnie was unconcerned, opening her laptop as she waved a hand for him to continue.

“So, I was at lunch with Cross and asked him to stop tailing me.” What the hell was he thinking? Men seemed to think they were invincible. Annoyed, I gave him a look that conveyed my feelings because he rushed ahead, darting his gaze away. “Look, I know that it was for my safety that Cross was there, but nothing was happening. Good or bad. None of us can live like this forever.”

“I think you did the right thing,” Ronnie said, absently opening the fridge. “I’m starving.” She was super concerned, I thought in the most sarcastic inner voice possible, but I wondered when she last ate. Ronnie was thin as a rail, petite was generous. Maybe I should be watching her more closely, and I definitely needed to double-check with her on her latest lab work.

“Okay, so Cross didn’t leave with you. Then what?” I asked, keeping my voice steady even though I was having a legit heart attack about Pike letting Cross leave him on his own. I should have been calm. He was in front of me. He was fine, and I didn’t know why my heart was racing or why I was so mad.

His eyes narrowed as if reading my mind, so I narrowed mine back at him petulantly. “I went to my bike, and someone was there.” My pulse hammered. So loud I could hear the boom of the drumbeat in my ears. “It was Eli. At first, I wasn’t sure.” I wanted to tell him that he was being foolish, that it had been so long, but I bit my tongue. There was a time for such things, but surely now wasn’t the time to open my mouth. “Nat, he has the same scar near his eye. I was there when he got that. He has the same bone structure. I mean, brown hair isn’t uncommon, but that cowlick. It was him,” he said emphatically.

“What’d he say?” Ronnie asked as she doled out some cottage cheese like Pike ran into an old friend instead of a brother who was supposed to be dead and murdered.

“He said that some guy named Victor is committing these murders. That it is someone he used to run with.” Ronnie put down her spoon with a clatter. “Some psycho.”

To my surprise, Ronnie nodded thoughtfully and picked the spoon back up. “Makes sense.”

“How does that make sense?” I said incredulously. The whole thing was crazy.

“I suspected,” she bit the corner of a nail. “I’ve been running diagnostics on the figures following you. It’s been harder since you’ve had Cross and company tailing you. They’ve complicated things for me. I know that they made it safer for you,” she rushed to say. “I suspected that there were two different people following. I just wasn’t sure.”

“Eli said that you’ve made waves in some of the chat webs,” Pike said flatly, disapproval coloring his tone. Ronnie perked up, sitting straight on the stool she’d slouched on.

I watched a mischievous glint appear in her eye, which I knew very well. "Really? Which webs? Do tell." Her curiosity was insatiable, and I couldn't help but admire that piece of her that was equal parts the person who wanted to stir up trouble and the other who tried to solve the puzzle, even if it sometimes led her into dangerous waters. “I love it when I make waves.” There was that hint of pride in her voice that told me that there was no way that Ronnie was sorry that she’d pissed someone off.

Pike sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Eli didn't give specifics, but he mentioned some dark web forums. Victor is keeping tabs on anything related to our past, and Eli was concerned.” Ronnie looked unruffled, spooning her cottage cheese into her mouth as if serial killers were the most boring thing in the world. Double killers? Dead brothers brought to life? Yawn.

“Okay, so explain this to me. Eli didn’t die at Kent’s. What happened to him?” Pike looked at the floor, but Ronnie gave me a pitying look.

“Oh, Natty. Don’t be stupid.” It was that comment that made me feel even shittier; thankfully, Pike didn’t comment, but he didn’t need to. Of course, I knew what had happened to him. I didn’t really mean what Kent had done. I meant, where had Eli been all this time? Did he have a job? Those sorts of things.

“I’m guessing Kent abused him for years until Eli ran away,” Pike said flatly. “Eli refused to talk much about it, but I was moved here after the drowning. There was a shake-up in the county that I was in, and one of the deputies there had some pull. I was transferred.”

“It was pretty unusual.” Ronnie propped her computer open and shoveled food in her mouth like she was starved, finishing her cottage cheese and starting in on a carton of blueberries. “The deputy had a sister who worked in the agency in Tempe. They had a family that they hooked you up with. I think the only reason it was signed off on was the scandal. Usually, they don’t move kids from state to state like that, but she had a verified home and all that jazz. There is an Interstate Compact for placement, a big process with all these considerations. You didn’t have surviving parents, so there were no reunification efforts, but it sounds like they waved some other considerations.” Ronnie often sounded like she was talking out of her ass, and then she pulled out information like this, and you realized that her knowledge of things was either vast, cobbled together, or a little bit of both. My sister amazed me for so many reasons — this was just one of them.

“Yeah, something like that,” Pike ground out. The word seemed bitter as he swallowed his whiskey. “Maybe if I’d been local, I would have figured it out. Eli said he ran away after a while, and that’s when he met Victor. He is going through our past using information that Eli gave him.” He looked away from us. “Eli says this guy is setting him up, but then he says he’s doing it to get his attention. Like it was a favor.” Pike ran his hands through his hair, frustrated. “It didn’t make any sense, and I’m not even sure there is a Victor. It sounded — crazy,” Pike admitted, and I knew it cost him to do so. I hadn’t forgotten his wish to have his brother alive, no matter what the cost was. If his brother were alive and wasn’t the killer... well, that was a win/win scenario.

“Oh, there’s a Victor,” Ronnie said calmly. “I’m positive there is another person. Maybe the whole motive isn’t lining up, but...” she trailed off, uncertain. “Victor exists, and I’m going to find him.”

“But... “ I picked up the pieces. “But Eli is alive. Right? That’s the magic you wanted and hoped for. It sounds like he’s been through a lot, and none of it was good, but he’s still breathing. You told me that you’d take that.” Pike’s nostrils flared, and he nodded.

“You’re right, Nat. That’s what’s important. I’m so grateful.” He leaned over, bending nearly in half as he tried to suck air in, and then crouched down. “I just can’t even believe I saw him again. I tried to convince him to return with me, but he wouldn’t. He kept saying Victor was coming and we needed to be ready.” Pike looked up straight to Ronnie. “Eli talked about you, Ronnie—those chats. You need to be careful. He was super worried about Victor targeting you.”

“Sure,” she waved her fork. “I’ll be careful.” She rolled her eyes behind his back.

“Ronnie,” I scolded.

“What? We have Enzo and Luca. The house is a fortress. Dimitri and Max have security on it. I don’t go anywhere ever. What’s the issue?” She shrugged and tipped the rest of the container into her mouth.

“Well, we need to be aware anyway,” Pike cautioned. “Sometimes things don’t go according to plan, or people are smarter than we think. Shit breaks.” Finally, that seemed to break through, and she nodded.

“What else did he say?” she asked, clearly trying to take the spotlight off her own security issues.

“Eli is sure Victor will go after Kent next, which is perfect since we can set that up. I have a tracker on him,” Pike said. I remembered this conversation about the tracker. Ronnie’s eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning, and she clapped her hands.

“That’ll work, that’ll work. Okay. I have to go... I have work to do. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. I’ll see what I can find on Victor. I have plans to make.” She had risen from the counter and then turned and pointed at Pike. “You talk to Maddox and Dimitri. You,” she pointed to me. “Talk to Max. We might need a few more men. Not too many.” Then she hustled out of the room, that ponytail slipping and sliding as she returned to her bat cave.

Moving back over to Pike, I brushed my nose to his. “Are you alright?”

“I’m worried, but I’m hoping Ronnie’s right and this Victor guy exists,” he mumbled. I understood his doubts, but Ronnie seemed sure, and if she was sure, then I was sure. The whole story sounded insane, if I were being truthful, but sometimes you just had to roll along with the crazy.

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