Page 113 of Claimed By the Biker Brothers

“Paramedics are up there with her,” Bentley says. “She’s okay, I promise. We need to make sure you’re okay too.”

Ellie’s patched up and ready to give her statement while the first responder comes over to check on Robyn. After a pulse and BP check, she seems calmer. I guess it’s from the relief of knowing Kyra’s okay more than anything.

“We can’t let her come down here yet,” I gently tell Robyn. “Not with these bodies.”

“I just want to hold my baby.”

“I know, darling.”

Sheriff Bentley takes copious notes while Ellie tells him everything, starting with her undercover assignment. Slowly, Robyn and I let the paramedics do their jobs, nursing our scratches and making sure our vitals are on point as we listen to Ellie’s story. Knox and Diesel are equally enthralled.

“I was only supposed to watch out for gang activity pertaining to the Rogue Riders,” Ellie says, occasionally glancing our way with an apologetic look. “I wasn’t supposed to get in this deep, honestly. But I grew fond of you, Robyn. I saw how honest and hardworking you were. I wanted to help you, keep you safe. And once I got the bartending gig at the clubhouse, I could tell that my superiors’ suspicions regarding the MC were unfounded. I wanted to drop the assignment much sooner, but then Frank Spalding walked into the picture.”

“So you had no affiliation with him,” Bentley concludes.

“No, sir. And my SSA in charge will confirm that. In fact, I brought his name up during a debriefing session as soon as Robyn mentioned him and his investigation into the MC. It didn’t make sense, so I started digging into the guy. I couldn’t accuse him of anything, mind you. The DEA doesn’t take kindly to unfounded accusations.”

Diesel scoffs. “Of course. You protect your own.”

“Don’t you?” Ellie replies.

To my complete shock, Paulie walks back into the room. I didn’t even notice him leave earlier. By the looks on Knox and Diesel’s faces, neither did they.

“Paulie?” Robyn mutters. “What’s going on?”

“He’s with me,” Ellie says. “I’m so sorry, Robyn, guys. Paulie was my CI.”

I glare at him. “A CI?”

“Beats being Calvin’s guy, don’t you think?” he quips with a dry smirk as he sits down next to Ellie. “I snuck out as soon as I saw the flash in the window. Ellie promised she’d give me a signal to leave before all hell broke loose.”

“Part of the deal,” she says. “I approached Paulie as soon as Calvin got to Robyn. I had to do something.”

“Something?” I ask.

“Something was cooking in Redwood. I couldn’t pinpoint Spalding’s movements and I wasn’t sure if his agents were aware of what he was really doing here. I needed evidence, and Paulie told me Calvin had offered him a job with the Hughes family.”

“You didn’t tell us about that,” Knox mutters, looking at Paulie.

“Hey, man, I was stuck between two worlds with the DEA breathing down my neck. I didn’t want to; things got out of control fast,” Paulie says.

“Spalding had an agreement with Marlo and Calvin,” Ellie says. “I needed Spalding to bite, though, to break a few laws and internal regulations. I told Paulie to take Calvin’s offer and get close to Spalding, close enough to suggest planting evidence.”

My blood runs cold. She’s injured, but I could still smack her around a bit for all the trouble she’s caused.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I groan as I straighten my back and realize it’s going to hurt for a while.

“I was building a case against him,” Ellie says, defending her decision. “And I promised Paulie I’d keep him out of the crossfire. To my astonishment, it kind of worked out in the end. I didn’t think Calvin would have so many eyes on the road, though.” She pauses and looks at Robyn. “I wanted you out of that cabin so I could take you into protective custody. Paulie warned me that Calvin and Marlo were gunning for you. It was only a matter of time before they’d find you. I underestimated their reach. You were here because of me, Robyn, you and Kyra. I hope you’ll be able to forgive me someday.”

Robyn stares at the floor, still trying to piece everything together.

“The timeline’s a little shoddy,” Sheriff Bentley says, “but I’ve got enough here to place Miss Hughes under arrest. I’ll oppose any intervention from the DEA, however. Given what happened with Spalding, yours will be the last Federal agency handling the investigation going forward,” he tells Ellie. “The FBI might be better equipped while you folks deal with your internal affairs, ’cause that’s a hot can of trash right there.”

“Yeah, my superiors will never live this down,” Ellie sighs deeply. “I warned them about Spalding, but they didn’t believe me. By the time I had enough evidence against him, Robyn was taken. I had to do something drastic.”

Paulie nods in agreement. “This was the best we could come up with considering the circumstances.”

“You stood right here while Spalding was ready to put a bullet through my head,” Robyn tells him with a low, cold voice.

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