Page 62 of Absolution

She fucking lied to me after all the promises that we made to each other. The lies were supposed to end yet, here I am in seething in fucking anger that she broke that promise. They say a leopard can’t change its spots, and neither can my wife apparently. The betrayal of her in trusting me, hurt like a knife straight to the heart.

I waited like a fool for hours in that waiting room of the jail only to be turned away, until the morning. The pain that I felt about abandoning her there nearly killed me, but it is nothing compared to what I feel now.

Why didn’t she tell me about her father having Asher right off the bat? Was I so unworthy of knowing the full truth?

The veins in my arms bulge as blind rage courses through them. So much of this could have been avoided had she told me the truth. Without the knowledge of her father’s existence or threats, I couldn’t protect her. The semblance of a life that we had built here has been shattered in the moment she admitted to knowing about this being a possibility. I have no doubt her arrest and our home being torn up like the aftermath of a tornado, were all connected.

I wasn’t stupid enough to say what I really felt in that room for fear, that it could be used against her in court. Any admission on my part of threating her father in any way could make her an accessory to the evil thoughts running through my head. The beast inside of me was readying for a fight, and it would have it.

After leaving the jail, I went straight back to the trailer. The makeshift repairs that I attempted on short notice to secure it were haphazard at best. I tried to clean up the mess as much as I could, but nothing was spared. Without a bed to sleep in, I was forced to sleep on the uncomfortable floor. My body ached from the lack of support, but that ache fueled.

Just as I pull into the driveway, two familiar faces stand on the threshold of the trailer. Raze and Slider, my brothers in arms, had answered my call for help.

Parking my bike near the rental car that occupied the driveway, I cut the engine, and slide off. Raze meets me, before I even make it off the porch with a look of deep concern in his eyes. He knows there’s more to what I told him on the phone last night, and his weathered look in return, tells me that he has gone without sleep to fly here. Flying meant one thing. That he was ill prepared in terms of hardware, should this go badly.

“Prez,” I greet him, extending my hand toward him. He takes my hand in his, gripping it tightly. “Thanks for coming on such short notice. I really appreciate the help.”

“That’s what brothers are for, Ratchet. Let’s step inside, and talk business out of the public eye.”

I nod, and unlock the simple padlock I used in haste on the door. The lock clicks open, and we head inside.

“I like what you did with the place, Ratch,” Slider utters. “It’s so you.”

Both men’s eyes scan the room, and take inventory of the damage done by the deputies who raided the place. Even with a quick clean up, it looks more like it did when I first got here.

“It was a welcome to the neighborhood gift from the county mounties,” I answer with a shrug of my shoulders. “They do roll out the welcome wagon here.”

“You could say that,” Raze adds.

His usual booming and demanding nature is different, and his eyes sweep from the room to me. While this would usually be his lead and his club, the fight here is mine. I am the leader, and he and Slider are my support. The leadership change feels odd after so many years.

“Tell me what you know so far,” Raze inquires, and I tell them of the recent developments. As the story unfolds, neither of them says a word, until I finish.

“So what’s the plan?” Slider interjects. “Do we have any solid evidence of her father’s involvement other than some back alley threats and her word against his.”

“I don’t, but I’m hoping that V can find out something on it. On my way back from seeing her, I called him with the new information she fed me.”

“So all we have now is to wait and see if we can prove her innocence and his guilt,” Raze surmises.

“Unfortunately, yes. I may have been a bit premature in calling you both in. This is going to have to be a wait and see kind of chess game.”

“Is she worth all this trouble?” Slider asks. “No piece of ass should bring this much trouble on you or the club.”

I roar with rage. And start for him. Raze steps between us, cutting me off from my target.

“She is not a piece of ass, Slider. She is my fucking wife. It may not seem like it to you, but when you make a fucking commitment like that, it comes with the good and the fucking bullshit.”

“Jesus, dude.” Slider back peddles. “I was only asking.”

“You don’t have the fucking right to ask something like that, until you can fully understand what it means.”

Raze just watches the back and forth pissing match between Slider and I, before he finally backs down from me. This is the worst time for him to find his balls. One more fucking word out of him, and he’d end up like one of those army men from Game of Thrones. Unmanned and Unmatched.

“What can we do while we wait?” Slider asks, steering the conversation back to where it should be.

My thoughts race to how I can prepare for what’s ahead. There are so many different angles, that one wrong move before we know anything, could cook us. The waiting game is our only ally.

“I don’t, but I do have something you can do in the meantime, Slider. With Ricca’s brother being the common factor in this all, I need eyes on him. Do you think you could handle that?”

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