Page 68 of Burning Secrets

Save him.

He closed his eyes, that moment upon him, his father’s hand warm on his shoulder as he knelt next to Crew. His father’s prayer after Crew had prayed his own. “Thank you, God, for putting me here, in prison, so I could accomplish what is now being done.”

The words shivered through him now. His father, grateful to be in prison with his son. His eyes burned, remnants of the song sung at the funeral rising up to sit in his soul.

The Lord has promised good to me, his word my hope secures; He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.

He pressed a hand to his chest.Please, God, help me to believe that.

Footsteps, and he looked up. Not Rio, not the sheriff, not even Mills.

A man dressed in green canvas pants, a black jacket, with long brown hair, a scruff of beard, a grim set to his mouth strode up to the cage.

Crew got to his feet. “Tristan?”

The undercover DEA informant had been his cohort in quiet surveillance for the better part of a year inside the Sons of Revolution. “Where have you been?”

Tristan ignored him as he worked the lock, a traditional deadbolt, then drew it back and opened the door. “Let’s go.”

“What’s happening?”

“What do you think? Listen, Mills is out looking into the report of a domestic disturbance?—”

“I’d like to domestically disturb him,” Crew said as he walked out of the cell.

Tristan grinned. “Yeah, that’s what Rio said when he called me. He talked Sheriff Starr into heading up to the compound with Vince and Hammer.”

“Like Viper is going to let them walk in, hand over Jo?” He pushed through the back door of the jail, into the fading sunlight. “Viper is on the Ten Most Wanted list.”

Tristan gave him a look.

“Where have you been?”

“Laying low. Digging into the financial dealings of the SOR with Jamie. Seems like they’re pretty well-funded.”

“Like what kind of funding?”

“Like some foreign player.”

“You think a foreign government is behind the SOR? Like Russia? Or China?”

“I think China is behind everything.” Tristan had parked a pickup behind the jail, and now Crew got into the passenger seat. “But whoever they are, they can’t directly source the SOR. They’d need a middleman. Or maybe it’s just someone who aligns with the SOR agenda.”

“Destroy America?”

Tristan pulled out. “Maybe just break down the will of the people, centralize power. And it starts with money. That’s what Jamie and I have been hunting.” He had pulled out onto the highway. “You sure you’re ready to go back?”

“I’m ready to get JoJo and end this.”

Tristan nodded, a muscle pulling in his jaw as he drove.

Crew looked out the window and prayed.Please, God, keep her alive.Because if Sheriff Starr and Rio showed up, a showdown could ignite, and suddenly the entire thing could turn into Waco.

And people—most importantly JoJo—could die.

“Must go faster,” he said to Tristan, who nodded.

He cut off the highway south of the compound. “Where are you going?”

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