Page 151 of Gunner

My hands weren’t clean. I’d cut my share of lives short. I could have been charged for any of those murders, but instead I was locked up for one I didn’t commit. The irony wasn’t lost on me.

Despite the restlessness gnawing at my gut, I kept up appearances, acting as if this was just a minor inconvenience. But inside, I was a turmoil of worry.

Someone, most likely a cop, had planted false evidence that had led those cops to me. Ben had made it clear I wasn’t supposed to share a cell with anyone using some BS about riskassessment, though everyone probably knew by now why he’d done it. It was his way of protecting me, but what about him, alone out there? My brothers were supposed to have his back. My one phone call I’d used to call Saint instead of my lawyer. I hadn’t been comfortable with the idea of Ben on his own, so I’d asked him to shadow Ben.

I got up and hit the floor, trying to take my mind off everything by doing push-ups. I was sweating and breathing hard when the cop Ben had left to keep an eye on me appeared.

“Gunner, I’ve got some news,” she said, her voice tight.

I jumped up.

“What’s up?”

“There’s a shoot-out happening right now,” she whispered. “Chief Witter is involved. He requested backup.”

A numbness replaced the antsy tension in my limbs. I clutched the bars to keep myself steady. “How is he?”

“We have units on the way. We’re not sure yet, but the center received a lot of calls from the neighborhood about the incident. It seems pretty bad.”

My heart raced as a flood of emotions swept through me. If anything happened to Ben… Fuck,nothingcould happen to him.

“I’ll give you more information as soon as I find out what’s going on.” She stalked off but turned back to me. “If anyone can get through this, Chief Witter can. He’s a good man, probably too kind, but I’m sure he’ll come through this.”

Except until Ben stood before me, until I touched him, smelled him, I couldn’t be at ease.

With no way to tell time, I felt stuck in a warp while everything around me was moving. An hour or a couple hours might have passed without any further news about Ben. I’d tried getting information from a cop, but he ignored me like I was dirt under his shoes.

I had no idea how long I’d been waiting when a police officer opened my cell.

“What’s going on?” I asked. Ben had been wary of just anyone having access to me. What was to stop someone from trying to kill me the way they’d killed Fox at the hospital?

“You’re wanted for questioning.”

“That’s twice today already.”

His expression remained stoic. “The longer you resist, the more I lose my patience.”

“I won’t make things difficult for you if you tell me what’s up with your chief.”

He smiled. “You actually think you have room to leverage here?”

He was right.

The cop took me back to the same interrogation room as the other two times. Ben had questioned me the first time, then someone named Grant, a detective on the case. The door opened, and I swallowed my groan.

This asshole again.

I had to stay alert around Thoms. He was too trigger-happy, and I needed to stay alive to find out if Ben was okay.

Fuck. I was actually afraid to die. That had never happened. I would charge into danger and take risks, just considering death as a part of the circle of life, but now I had something to live for. I wanted to spend a long life with Ben. I wanted that companionship with a partner the way the other bikers did.

“Surprise.” Thoms sat opposite me. “It’s just you and me today.”

“I’m not obligated to answer your questions without my lawyer present.”

“Then don’t talk, but you need to listen. I’m on to you.”

I raised an eyebrow.

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