Page 111 of Savior

“What—kill you?” He turned to look at me. “Well, first, I’d ensure that I’d gotten all the intel I needed from you.”

“Intel? Oh, like force me to crack kinda thing?”

“Yeah.” He inspected one of Mike’s special guns, a cobbled-together fully automatic. “Waterboarding… auditory overload… sleep deprivation… stress positioning—the possibilities are almost endless when it comes to breaking someone down.”

I swallowed. “So, you do all that and then you kill them?”

Jimmy nodded. “By the time you put them down, it’s more of a mercy than anything else.” He picked up a box of ammo and gestured for me to follow. “But, that shoulder thing you mentioned sounds intense too. I might have to add that to my repertoire.”

I slugged him in the arm playfully. “Jerk.”

Our heads shot up at the sound of a car coming down the driveway. Zane closed his laptop and hopped out of the bed of his truck, already reaching for his weapon. It wasn’t until Jimmy’s hand went to his holster that I realized he’d positioned himself in front of me.

“Wait a minute,” I said when the red BMW came into view. “It’s Little Ricky and Molly!”

When he stepped out of the sports car with a wide grin, I didn’t even think before running and throwing myself into his arms. I made a noise that might’ve been a laugh were tears not streaming down my face. “Does this mean you’ve forgiven me? Because I’m so so so sorry—”

“Hey, Caparina…” Little Ricky pulled back to look at me. “Why you cryin’, girl?”

“Because I just missed you so much,” I blubbered, no longer a confident gunslinger, but a hero who’d needed her sidekick.

He laughed easily. “Missed you too, Cap. Had to get my head right, ya know?”

“I’m sorry. I know what I did was wrong. And the thought of you and I never speaking again just—” My voice broke off in another loud and decidedly unladylike sob.

“Nah, Cap, it’s all good in the hood. You and me are like this.” He crossed his fingers. “Tight. How’s my boy doin’?”

I patted my belly with a sniff. “Getting bigger.”

He squatted down and placed his hands on either side of my tummy with a wide grin. “Yo, Thor. It’s your Uncle Little Ricky. Yeah, I know, my dude. I missed you too! Okay, keep, uh, bakin’ and shit.”

“I can’t believe you’re here,” I choked out. “So much has happened…”

He stood up, no longer smiling. “I heard about Mikey. That’s actually why I came; club’s been lookin’ into it—”

“Molly?” My mother stepped out onto the porch. “What are you doing here?”

“Haven’t been the best friend to you, Celia,” she said matter-of-factly. “I told you to let the club handle shit. And then this one went and meddled.”

I looked around for the culprit before realizing she was talking about me. “About that,” I began. “I can explain… maybe.”

Molly threw her head back with a laugh. “I can’t wait to hear you explain how you smuggled Bear’s DNA out of our house—”

“Simple.” Little Ricky flashed his teeth. “Cap’s a ninja.”

“Well, ninja or not, it led to some uncomfortable conversations in our house.”

“It’s true, then?” My mother asked. “But, you said—”

“Little Ricky, would you mind running inside to get me some water?” Molly interrupted.

“You got it, Ma.”

Once he was gone, she turned back to both of us, lowering her voice. “One night, I went toLeather & Laceby myself—”

Mama’s eyes widened. “You didn’t. By yourself?”

I didn’t know anything aboutLeather & Lace, other than it was a biker bar. Judging by my mother’s reaction, it obviously wasn’t the sort of place a woman went alone.

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