Page 18 of Shadow

“It’s still fuzzy, but Jinx said something before I killed him.”

A club brother slapped his hand down on the table and shouted. “You don’t get to say his name. Ever!”

“Blackjack,” Kansas cautioned, before adding. “What did he say, Shadow?”

“She needs you. Save her. Tell Jinx I love her.”

“Bullshit!”

“He’s fucking lying!”

Watching all the brothers shout angrily at me, my eyes landed on one brother who hung his head, saying nothing. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who noticed because before I could ask, Kansas asked, “Got something to add, Keys?”

The brother named Keys looked up at me and asked, “You said he called her a client.”

“Yeah. He said he was only trying to help her.”

“Shit,” Keys muttered, rubbing his face. “Jinx moonlighted as a private investigator for extra cash. I sometimes helped him with his investigations. If asshole is correct, then Jinx was at the bar to meet a client, possibly this woman.”

“Shit. Keys, go get the damn file on the woman,” Kansas cursed, sitting down in his chair as he looked at me. “And you. What else do you remember?”

Brothers slowly settled, taking their seats. Though I wasn’t happy about talking about that night, if there was someone out there who needed help, I wanted to make sure they got it.

“Only what I told you but Kansas, I remembered him clearly saying, she needs you. Save her. Tell Jinx I love her.”

Kansas and several others shook their heads.

“That makes no sense, Prez,” Pence reiterated. “Jinx didn’t have a woman.”

“Then why say tell Jinx I love her?” Kansas countered, just as confused as everyone else. “Okay. Who was closest to Jinx?”

“I was,” Monk growled, glaring daggers at me.

“Did you know he was moonlighting?”

“No.”

“Gonna have to help me out here, Monk. Jinx was part of the old guard. One of the few survivors. What was Jinx doing on the day they attacked the club?”

“Jinx told Big Jim he needed a few days to take care of something. Brother was gone two weeks before the attack and didn’t get home until a week after. He wasn’t party to the attack.”

“Not saying he was. Jinx was a stand-up guy.”

“This fucker is lying his ass off. Jinx didn’t have a side piece. He’s talking out of his ass to save himself from the ass beating he knows is coming.”

That was the damn truth.

I knew before I left this area, one or all the Diamondbacks were going to want their pound of flesh. Even though what I did was a complete accident, and I wasn’t in my right mind at the time.

The fact was I killed one of their brothers.

That action alone required some kind of payback or retribution of sorts. It was only thanks to Kansas and seeing the degree of difficulty I was having with my sanity that gave me the reprieve.

Now, nothing, not even Kansas, could stop what was going to happen.

Part of me eagerly awaited my punishment.

I’d done a long dance with the devil and maybe it was time to pay the price.

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