Page 76 of Jasper
Hearing that sends a chill right down my spine. I swallow thickly, realizing I just helped find the person feeding sensitive information to our enemies—but in doing so, I may have inadvertently helped end his life. That doesn’t sit well with me, not at all.
Sam begins panicking, face already breaking out in a cold sweat. “I didn’t mean to betray the club. I swear. I was told to join up, stay quiet, and report in. That’s it. It was just a job, man.”
I turn my head away, because this prospect is so young, likely barely eighteen or nineteen years old. I’m having trouble reconciling the scared voice I’m hearing right now with the cold, calculating one I heard when he was reporting confidential information to our enemies earlier. I can’t help but wonder if he was pretending to be a tough guy earlier or if he’s trying to sound pathetic right now to escape consequences. I turn to the room. Every eye is on me now. “Phones back. Eyes up. No one slips through the cracks on my watch. We’ve got incoming.”
Then I look at myself. I’m still standing in the middle of this room full of outlaws, helping them do what they need to protectthemselves from even bigger outlaws. The irony of my situation is not lost on me.
Jasper’s voice rings out, for everyone to hear, “Tessa caught the leak. We all owe her.”
A few of the guys nod towards me. One of them taps a fist to his chest. I recognize it as the plainest and simplest form of respect these men have to offer. And in this moment, it’s enough.
Slate drags the prospect to his feet and punches him in the gut, knocking the breath from his lungs. Sam doubles over, wheezing. Jasper stays perfectly still, letting the violence happen like it’s just another part of the process. When they walk him off, I don’t follow. I just stand there, feeling like shit for my part in this situation.
Chapter 27
Jasper
Mica and Slate step in, each gripping an arm. They drag him out, towards our interrogation room in the basement. We’ll get the answers we need, and keep him locked up until we figure out what the hell to do with him. I follow them, thinking of the questions I want to ask him.
The moment my brothers throw Sam into a chair in our interrogation room, I’m on him, leaning down with my best intimidating stare.
“I want details,” I say, keeping my voice cool and deadly. “Drop meet-up locations. Who is your contact? What do they know about this place that we don’t?”
Lowering his eyes, he responds desperately, “I don’t know anything. Information only flows one way, from me to them.”
I grab a fistful of his hair and jerk his head back to look him in the eye. “Bullshit. Are you a fully patched member of the Hyenas? Even their prospects aren’t ignorant. They hang around and hear shit. Either way, you’re gonna come off some information if you want to make it outta this clubhouse alive.”
The prospect coughs, one hand clutching his side where Slate likely cracked a rib. “Okay, okay. Jesus, I’ll talk.”
I let his head go and stand over him with my arms crossed, praying he makes good on his promise to talk.
Grasping the arms of the chair, words tumble out of his mouth in a rush. “They know about the side fence. They saidit looked old and particularly vulnerable. They plan to hit there first. They’ve decided to hit hard and fast, using the element of surprise. I sent photos of the fence last week, and they have drone footage.”
There’s a knock at the door. I stomp over and open it, everyone knows not to bother us when we’re interrogating someone.
It’s Striker, and he’s looking worried. “You need to see this, brother.”
He holds out the burner phone and scrolls through the gallery with his thumb. There are numerous photos of Tessa.
I spin around and glare at the prospect, “You wanna tell me why you’ve got pictures of my old lady?”
“I was only doing what they asked me,” he stutters.
“You better start talkin’ or you’re a fuckin’ dead man.”
“I’m already dead.”
“Why the hell did you betray us to join the fuckin’ Hyenas?”
He replies weakly, “I was prospecting for them, and this was my first job. I wanted to prove myself and be loyal. It’s nothing against your club.”
“Yeah, but you had to know what getting caught would mean for you.”
He gives me a scant nod.
“Your betrayal is gonna cost lives on both sides when they tear into that fence. You know that, right?”
He states weakly, “I honestly didn’t think it would go that far.”
