Page 90 of Broken

“Which puts us right back to knowing that Daemonat some point was working for the mafia,” Colt said.

“So why did he join us? What was his goal?” Dirtyasked. “We knew it was all a lie from the beginning, but why get Gabrielle andRosalie involved?”

They stared at each other and Colt frowned.“Unless getting Rosalie killed was his plan from the start.”

Dirty looked toward him. “What?”

“Think about it. The man was obsessed withGabrielle. It wasn’t a sane obsession. He would do anything for Gabrielle. Theman butchered his own son because of her death. What if that day it was meantto be me and Rosalie? He’d blame the club, which would start an all-out war,right? He would attack, take out our club, using the manpower with the mafia,and he’d get Gabrielle.” Colt laughed.

Dirty couldn’t look away. “Are you trying to tellme our club’s demise is all on the basis of him getting a woman?”

“That, and the club.”

“But what the fuck does the mafia have to do withthis?” Dirty asked.

“They’re friends.”

Dirty shook his head. “No, that is too easy. Thereis something here that isn’t right. It stinks. You’ve got to see that too.”

“I do see it, but what more is there?”

“It makes no sense. Daemon was not the kind of guyto play nice with. They were not a club known for making deals with mafiapeople that would benefit them. None of it makes sense. It makes more sense forus to have a closer relationship with Don Stefano Napoli.” Dirty rubbed histemples. “We’re missing something here.”

“But that also explains how the Evil Fuckers MCgot out and why they haven’t needed to return to their compound.”

“They’ve got the backing of Don Stefano Napoli.He’s keeping them somewhere.”

Colt glanced toward the bed. “Fritz must have beenon to it.”

“All the information on the computers has beenwiped. We have no way of knowing any of this shit. No one even knows what DonStefano Napoli looks like,” Dirty said. “The man is a ghost. There are rareglimpses, but all those images are pixelated and there’s nothing.”

“Something stinks here and it doesn’t add up.”Colt moved closer to Fritz. “Look, man, I know you’ve been through hell andback. I get it. We all get it, but we need you. We need you to wake up and dowhat you do best, tell us what we’re all missing here. Brother, we’re all herefor you.” Colt put his hand on Fritz’s shoulder. “It shouldn’t have happened tohim.”

Dirty didn’t even need to wake him to know hedidn’t give anything away. It wouldn’t have been hard to find Colt’s address.Fritz was one of them, through and through.

“We’ll settle the score,” Dirty said.

“It’s time we were heading back. Maybe we couldtalk to Warden, let him know what we figured out.”

“And hoping he could fill in the blanks.”

They left the hospital room, nodded at Rooster andPirate, who were manning the door. Warden had made a healthy donation to thehospital to make the security look in the opposite direction.

Stepping out into the sunlight, Dirty knew itwouldn’t be long before the cold would be fighting back, and they were headingtoward Halloween and Christmas. His thoughts drifted to Petal, and he wasalready thinking about what to get her for Christmas.

She didn’t know he had already picked out a ringfor her. He wanted to marry Petal, to go all in with her. This time, there wasno holding back. No cutting corners. He was going to make her his wife. Hedidn’t know if he should propose to her right now, wait until Halloween, orsave it for Christmas. Patience was not one of his many virtues, it used to be,but with Petal, he didn’t want to give her chance to remember how much he hadfucked up. This was going to be a fresh start for them both.

Riding out of the hospital parking lot, he stayedclose to Colt, keeping an eye on their surroundings.

Dirty didn’t like the feeling that swept over him.Something didn’t feel right. That was when he saw the gun coming out of theside of one of the cars behind them. He pushed on the brake, moving in behindColt, who gave a wide berth, and as the gun fired, it moved between them,taking out the back screen of the car in front of them.

They had to get off the road, as more shots werefired. There were not a lot of choices. They had to pick up speed and try tolose them. With Colt close, they weaved through the few cars and then pressedon the gas. Dirty checked his mirrors and saw the car gaining.

“Make a right!” Colt said, yelling.

He didn’t second-guess or question it. They took aright, taking them off the main path and down an old dirt road. Their speed wasalready coming down, and then he heard the bikes. Dirty glanced behind him,seeing the car, along with three bikes.

“They’re on our tail!” The dirt road opened, andit was to an abandoned ranch. Dirty didn’t even realize how many of the rancheswere now abandoned.

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