Page 17 of Cruel Savior

While she once again went white as a sheet, I grabbed the stack of photos from her before they fell to the floor. The top one was of her lying in bed reading a book. The bed here in this house. For a second, I thought the photographer had been inside the house because it was a high-quality clear image. But I caught a spot in the corner that looked like a glare from glass. "He wasn't in the house."

I thumbed through the rest of the photos to find a variety of pictures of Mandy in different areas of the house, outside on the property, and even in her car when she'd first arrived.

"He's been here the whole time..." She didn't look okay. Her skin had gone from pale to ashen.

I dropped the photos and pulled her into my arms. She burrowed her face deep into my chest and I held her as tight as I could without crushing her. "We're leaving."

"What?" The question was muffled because she was still clinging to me like a stage three clinger. Not that I blamed her. Not much scared me in this world, but the idea of a stone-cold killer being that close to her... "Where?"

"My place."

Chapter Ten

Amanda

I'm notsure how it happened, but it felt like one minute, I was standing in my father's cabin staring at a photo of me in bed reading, and the next, I was on the passenger side of Axel's truck on our way across Sultan to the Sins of Wrath motorcycle compound.

Where exactly had my life gone wrong? Was this even real?

Several men I didn't know, but identified as prospects to the club, had shown up at the cabin within an hour of us receiving that envelope. They'd brought Axel his truck and helped him load his motorcycle into the back of a second truck. Promises were made it would be fixed upon return. I'd barely had time to object or gather what I'd need before we were on our way.

While I felt safer with Axel at my side than I did alone, I still felt vulnerable being out in the open like this. Whoever our killer was, he had eyes on me continuously. Now that I knew that, I couldn't seem to shake the feeling.

"I'm not sure this is the best course of action," I stated quietly. "We are putting others at risk."

He gave me a side-eye with a side of smirk. "This is part of the job. While we do try to keep things away from the compound, it's not always possible. And trust me, our compound is far more secure than your father's property. No one is going to get close without all of us knowing."

"Unless they have drones."

"What?" The angry frown stamped on his face hadn't gone away in quite some time.

"You said no one can get close, but we both know that a drone can get eyes in almost all situations."

"Oh, I already filled in Tel and JD about your little drone stunt. Tel will be making changes to our security to account for that before the sun comes up. No one appreciates that shit."

"Why do you call him Tel? Is that short for something?"

"Intel. That was his job in the military and the man is quite literally a genius, especially when it comes to computers. He's way too smart to be hanging with us, but he got burned by the government and I guess this is his way of fighting back against the system."

"They seem to do that a lot, but their loss is your gain."

"Damn right." His grip tightened on the steering wheel as we fell into silence once again.

I wasn't in the mood for small talk, but the silence didn't bode well for me either. That left me nothing to do but think, and to think meant all I saw were those damned pictures. This wasn't the first time I'd been stalked by someone I burned during an arrest, but it was the first since everything that went down with the Mazzeo operation. I was due to talk to my government appointed therapist again, but I still didn't want to reveal anything. I wasn't in denial, but I did want to put it behind me.

All that mattered to me was that the two principals in that investigation were dead. What I'd had to endure to get the job done didn't matter. If they'd survived, maybe I would feel differently, but as it was, that case was closed. Until this.

Lost in thought, I didn't realize how close we were to the compound until Axel slowed at the gate until it opened enough for us to get through. He didn't stop to talk to anyone, but the burly tattooed bald man at the manned hut tipped his chin up when Axel flicked him a little finger wave. Guys played it so cool when they greeted each other. Especially these ones.

MC men were an interesting breed. Strong loner types, but fiercely loyal to each other and whatever oath the club followed. They often didn't have a lot of family outside the club, instead the club became their family. Six months ago the FBI would have been ecstatic to see me this close to the Wrath.

They were outlaws on the short list of clubs that often got looked at and getting someone on the inside had been on the dream list for quite some time. But now they didn't give a shit. Not about me. They'd cut me out like I'd been nothing more than a common criminal.

Because I was.

Like it or not. I'd given in to the impossible pressure of Frank Mazzeo and the destruction he had been capable of, and that had made me one of the bad guys. I had plenty of blood on my hands and no one was going to forget it, least of all me. Gah. I wanted to throw my hands up in the air and scream. I hated that being involved in a new case kept me thinking about the recent past. I was never going to be ready for the future if I couldn't let the past go. I needed to look forward.

I took a deep breath and looked over at Axel. I could still smell him and it was definitely messing with my head.

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