Long Way Home (Thunder Road #3)(21)

“You lost your dad, and I’m sorry. Frat was a good man.”

Anger wells up in me from the tip of my toes and then explodes out of my mouth. “You know nothing about my father.”

“Untrue. Your father was the one reason why the Riot and Terror never went Apocalypse Now. He had a steady head. Smart as hell. If he was still around, none of what happened this summer surrounding Emily would have happened. He would have figured out a way for Eli to see her, for us to see her, and she wouldn’t have been caught between us, trying to figure out who’s good and who’s bad.”

Easy. If I had to pick, they’re both bad, but the Terror are annoying-little-brother bad and the Riot are serial-killer bad. No-brainer.

“Your father wanted peace more than anything else. Did you know he was on his way to meet me when he died? Once every three months, he met with me and he listened to our list of grievances with the Terror and he’d tried to explain how we somehow had done the Terror wrong.”

I straighten away from the door frame. “Are you saying you killed him?”

Justin’s face screws up. “Fuck no. I respected the hell out of Frat, regardless of whose colors he had on his back. He wanted peace. Our club wants peace. His death was an accident. Trust me, we looked into it just as much as your club did. We weren’t sure if your side was trying to take him out because he was the one person who was able to see both sides and tried to keep us all from killing each other.”

I roll my eyes and Justin catches it. “You don’t believe me?”

“No. I may not know much, but your club is the one always pushing on the Terror to pay for riding through your territory and your club is always the one hurting Terror members.” I hold out my arms in a “hello.”

“There are rules, ways things are done, and the Terror think they’re above it.”

Maybe they do, maybe they don’t, but regardless... “Your politics have nothing to do with me.”

“It does.”

He’s delusional. “It doesn’t.”

“All that stuff I mentioned, we could possibly get past it, but what we can’t get past is Eli. He took my sister, turned her against us, and because of him she’s not in our life. My niece isn’t in my life.”

Emily is the one person I envy more than anyone else. She’s a blood child of the Terror and the Riot and she grew up far, far away from both clubs.

My temples begin to throb. I’m tired and I’m ready to fall to the floor in exhaustion. “Why are you talking to me?”

“As I said, we’ve been watching you. You’re not happy with the Terror. You’re not happy with Eli. What if I could offer you an opportunity to do what your father always wanted? What if you could bring peace to the clubs? What if by doing so, we’ll help you get the Terror out of your life and help get you out of your town?”

I’d be lying if I said he didn’t have my full attention. “If you want peace, all you have to do is leave the Terror alone.”

“We will leave the Terror alone, once we have Eli out of the way. He’s hurt too many people we love for him to be around. We can’t kill him. My mother still has hopes Emily will want a relationship with us someday. If Eli dies, she’ll blame us. But if Eli happens to be caught doing something illegal, caught betraying his club, caught by the police in the process and sent to prison, then we’ll be happy and we’ll pretend the Terror never existed.”

My blood freezes in my veins, and I shake like I’m having a seizure. “Why are you telling me this?”

Justin looks straight into my eyes. “I want to frame Eli. Make it look like he’s been embezzling money from the club’s security company and from their clients.”

Eli may not be my favorite person, but... “No one will believe that.”

“Leave the belief up to me, but in order to frame Eli, I need account numbers. The club’s account numbers, the clients’ account numbers, as many numbers as I can get my hands on.”

The throbbing in my temples increases. “What is it you think I can do?”

“Your father was the accountant for the club and for the security business. We’ve heard how your mother is having a hard time dealing with his loss—not moving on very well. Even heard his clothes still hang in her closet.”

There’s a burst of painful fear in my chest and it steals my breath. He’s been in my house. This man has been in my house.

“I bet everything of your dad’s is still where he left it. If you search hard enough, you could find something. Some old files. Maybe search around on his computer.”

A cold tingling in my bloodstream. I may be mad at the club, but I’m not a traitor. “Why didn’t you just look for it while you were there?”

Justin smiles and it’s the type that causes you to fear the devil. “Me, in your house? That would mean breaking and entering. Plus, or so I’ve heard, your mom doesn’t leave the house very often. I’m hypothesizing here, but it would be hard to get things done when she’s around.”

Bile rises in my throat.

“Just to make this situation move faster rather than slower, if you’re wondering if the Terror clubhouse is a place where little birds can’t see, you’d be wrong. Birds have a way of looking through all windows. Even ones that belong to the Terror. Hiding there brings vultures to your doorstep. Your home—it’s like hanging out with songbirds.”