Page 81 of Blackout-

Satisfied with his response, I proceeded to tell him my plan. To my surprise, he didn’t look at me like I was a struggling man trying to hold on to something lost. That doesn’t mean he jumped on board. The man had questions.

“I don’t fucking understand why he doesn’t just take the rap and plead insanity. If anyone can get off by pulling the crazy card its Jack,” he muttered, running a hand over his head. “Especially if he’s got the right lawyer.”

“Which brings me to the next part,” I said. “I need you to call Vic’s lawyer.”

“That might be a problem,” he replied, hesitating for a beat. “I wasn’t going to say anything because it’s all moot at this point, but Grace and Reina were conspiring behind Jack’s back.”

“What?”

“Grace got in Reina’s head last night, sharing all her shoulda coulda woulda’s with her and suggested she get a health care proxy drawn up on Jack. I guess she didn’t want him to suffer the same fate as Victor and thought if Reina was his advocate—”

“Does Jack know this?”

“I’m gonna go with no,” he said. “Anyway, Grace called Schwartz to see if he could get it drawn up by this morning. When she couldn’t get in touch with him, she called me and told me what they were planning and asked me to pay the good lawyer a visit. Come to find out, Schwartz is out of town, working some high-profile case in California. Apparently, he decided to spread his wings and practices law in both states. Even opened a firm out there.”

“But isn’t that who you called when they all got arrested?”

“Yeah, and after Holden stepped in, he turned all his cases over to his son and boarded a plane the next morning.”

“What do we know about his son?”

“David’s a cocky bastard but eager to upstage his father,” he revealed, shrugging his shoulders. “Might be just what we need.” He paused, biting the inside of his cheek. “You still haven’t mentioned how we’re going to give them the cartel,” he pointed out.

“I’ll worry about that, you worry about securing this David character. Have him meet me at the district attorney’s office but make sure it’s after ten. I want to make sure Jack is in custody before we get this shit going, that way he can’t stop me.”

With Bianci on board and on a mission to get Schwartz on our payroll, we parted ways. I head home and Lacey informed me she didn’t want to see Jack before he left. I understood her reasoning and part of me wanted to tell her that I had come up with a way that might get her father off on the charges. One that kept me out of the slammer and with her, but until I had everything sorted out I couldn’t. I wasn’t going to make any more promises I wasn’t sure I could keep. I kissed her goodbye and vowed to call her once it was over. Then I made my way to Jack’s.

I was the last to arrive and I’m glad I was. I couldn’t stand to watch him say goodbye to Danny. It was bad enough I had to witness Reina fall apart when he told her he didn’t want her accompanying him to the district attorney’s office. He ordered Nico to stay with her, and me and my brothers watched him straddle his Harley one last time. We followed him to Green-Wood Cemetery, where he said his final goodbye to his beloved son.

Throughout the course of our friendship, I’ve watched Jack talk to Junior’s grave countless times, and every time is a little more heartbreaking than the last. Whoever said time heals all wounds, never buried a child. That wound will never close. There will always be a hole carved in Jack’s heart for Junior.

I might’ve sworn off making any more promises, but as Jack broke down in front of the tombstone, I knew I had to make just one more. It was one I could keep no matter the outcome of my plan. I vowed to visit Junior’s grave every time I paid my respects to Christine. Knowing Junior would never be forgotten, Jack pulled himself together and started for his bike.

It was time for him to take his final bow.

And for me to throw this shit into gear.

I should’ve anticipated what happened next.

For every fucking high there’s acrashinglow.

We were just about to mount our bikes when Wolf came rushing over with his phone to his ear and a grim expression on his face.

“There was an accident,” he revealed roughly. “It’s Reina and Danny.”

There was no talking Jack down after that, once Wolf told him which hospital they were transported to, his tires peeled out of the cemetery. We all followed him, none of us thinking about the consequences that would ensue when Jack didn’t surrender as planned. All that mattered was Danny and Reina.

Luckily when we arrived at the hospital, Nico was there with Danny. The kid was distraught but aside from a few cuts and bruises, he was okay. They discharged him and revealed Reina hadn’t been as fortunate. She had suffered a whole slew of injuries and was in surgery, making it clear the deal was off the table.

Jack isn’t going anywhere.

But someone is.

The district attorney isn’t going to let him off the hook.

I barely have a chance to process what that means before Lacey storms into the hospital like a bat out of hell. To say she’s surprised to see her father is an understatement, but again, there isn’t a chance to digest what any of that means.

Well, except the fact that we’re riding blind…again.

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