Page 106 of His Old Lady

"No, Faye." His chest tightened. "He stopped being mental when he kidnapped my old lady."

"I-I killed him."

"No." He held her tighter. "I shot him."

"I pulled the trigger," she mumbled.

"I put the bullet in him, Faye. It was me." He looked at Priest, then he turned to Whip. "It was me."

The others nodded, going with the information. Faye would never know that she murdered Cal Williams. He'd protect her from that truth.

Whip slowly approached Faye again, lifted her hand, and forced her to drink from the glass. Faye would have Tarkio members surrounding her in the days to come and have all the support she needed. He'd make sure of that.

Forty minutes later, the clean-up crew arrived. He estimated Frank to arrive in fifteen minutes. Slowed by driving a car, he'd need to keep to the speed limit.

Rick took one look at Faye and walked out of the lounge, only to return with a handful of clothes. Looking at Curley, he said, "Tracy's."

That's all he needed to know. His MC brother understood the need to get Faye out of the bloodied dress and got Tracy's extra set of clothes from the duffle on the back of his Harley. He was thankful for the help.

Standing Faye up, he whispered in her ear. "Put these clothes on. They belong to Tracy."

Faye moved quickly, not arguing. He stood in front of her, sheltering her from the eyes of the others. Though she wasn't aware of everyone in the room. She only wanted to get the dress off.

Once she was covered with clean clothes, he walked her outside. Priest followed. A crime had been committed here, and the whole place would need to be swept for any clues of Cal getting shot before they dispose of the body.

"Uh, Curley?" Priest put a hand on his shoulder. "There's stuff upstairs."

He held Faye to his chest and covered the side of her face and her ear with his hand. The less she knew, the easier it would be on her.

"What kind of stuff?" he asked.

"Pictures." Priest's gaze flickered to Faye. "A lot of pictures. He'd planned this for a long time. There's also a Polaroid of the greenhouse fire. We found her in time, brother."

He looked away, trying to get control. If Cal wasn't dead, he'd kill him again.

"Get rid of them," he said. "Don't give anyone a reason to link this to us."

Priest nodded. "Take your woman home."

"Call me when it's done." He walked Faye toward the parking lot.

Frank pulled in. Glad to get Faye out of here, he put her in the car while Frank walked to Curley's Harley, planning to follow them home.

He was halfway to Missoula when Faye broke the silence. "You came back."

"I'd never leave you."

She stared straight ahead. "Promise?"

His grip tightened on the steering wheel. "Promise."

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