OUTLAW KING(45)

“It still hurts,” I said. “But you don’t give a shit about that, Anderson. My personal feelings mean shit to you. You just want to know where the deal is going down. You want to know exactly where Uncle Jakey is going to be.”

“Uncle Jakey,” Anderson said. He clapped his hands together. “Such an amazing way to put him. When I get him this time, it’s going to be great. And I’ll ensure everything I can for you.”

“You say that,” I said.

“Ah, of course. The outlaw fights back. I expect that though. You can speak with your attorney at any time, Kingston. Old files were pulled, the case reopened, and your confession to the murder is now worth shit. The bullet that killed the killer of your brother did not come from your weapon. Now, you still have to face some of the heat for, you know, shooting someone, but murder? You didn’t murder anyone.”

The numbness gave way to anger, but only for a few seconds. I already figured that I wasn’t the one who did it. Uncle Jakey made that clear to me. The Reap was fighting to protect itself and save itself. I had no idea what was going on at that time. I was only focused on seeking revenge. I lost my damn way and ended up on death row because of it.

“Now you’re going to have to take care of yourself,” Anderson said. “When I take down your club, eyes and fingers will be everywhere. If you get known as the rat…”

“I don’t give a shit,” I said. “I have the time. I have the place. I have everything you asked for, Anderson.”

He slid off the trunk of the car. His eyes were wide. “I’m more excited than the first time I found a magazine under my father’s bed that had a bare * in it. Give it all to me, Kingston.”

I rattled off the information.

Where the fake meeting was happening and when. Anderson studied my face and repeated my words with his lips without making a sound.

I seriously thought the son of a bitch was going to come in his pants.

When I finished, he offered his hand to me. “I knew I could count on you. I waited so long for this. Goddamn.”

I refused to shake his hand. “You get nothing else from me. Just be there to do whatever it is you’re going to do. I’m going to visit my brother now. Then my attorney.”

“Right, right, right,” Anderson said. I started to walk away and he called my name. “I want you there. At the meeting. I’m going to have to take you down, too. To play this all together.”

“Sure,” I said. “Whatever you need to do.”

I felt sick to my stomach as I crossed the road and climbed back on my motorcycle. I felt like a f*cking rat, even if I wasn’t. I couldn’t figure out who was the enemy, the friend, the brother. The only thing that remained constant for me was my feelings for Linds.

I rode away, giving myself a healthy two mile distance before I pulled over again.

I sent a text message to Linds.

Meet me at Tito’s grave… we have to talk…





33


(Lindsey) *NOW*

I HATED CEMETERIES. I hated death. I hated everything about it. But if King wanted to meet me at his brother’s grave, I had to see him. The last week together had been different. It was almost like I had some kind of sickness and he was afraid to be near me. Yet not a day went by that he wasn’t present in some form. There to make sure I was okay. That I was alive. Other than that, it was nothing.

I knew something happened with the Reap.

So I walked through the cemetery, hugging myself, looking for Tito’s grave.

It wasn’t all that hard to find.

Not with King standing there with his arms crossed, looking a second away from killing someone.

I walked between the gravestones, keeping on a narrow path, telling myself that if I stayed there I wouldn’t be stepping on any dead bodies. It was childish, but when you grew up like I did, all this shit freaked you out bad.

“I’m here,” I said to King.

“If I was gone for forever, could you make it without me?”

“What?”

“You heard the question,” King said. “It’s simple.”

“Simple? Nothing about you or me is simple.”

King pointed to the headstone. “This is what is left of my brother. A guy that I worshipped. Because he was the only one around. I know the truth of everything, Linds. The Reap went after Tito. The guys in charge of Tito f*cked over the Reap and took Tito out. The guy I shot? It wasn’t my bullet that killed him. I have all the information.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I just set up a meeting with Anderson and the Reap. I don’t know what the hell is going to happen. Anderson is going to try and arrest me again. Just to play it off because he thinks he’s taking down the Reap. Uncle Jakey has something planned but won’t tell anyone. We just have to be there.”

“Why are you telling me this? And why here?”

King stepped forward. He reached for me, touching my hand. My chin started to shiver. I was freaked out in the cemetery and even more freaked out by King’s sudden desire to be open about his club’s business.

“I’m telling you all of this because I love you. Because I know what it all means to you. You want to be in on my life, sweetie, this is it. I’m not a murderer. I don’t belong in prison or on death row. But that’s where I’m going to end up if anything goes wrong here. Why are we here? So you could see me walking away from my brother for the last time. He was the most important person in my life. But the more I look back and think back, he never really did much. He was afraid of everything. The coolest guy I knew but yet he was terrified of his own f*cking shadow. He ended up hitting the streets, becoming a lowlife dealer, an even lower junkie, and then he wound up killed. That’s not my life. Not the life I want. So I want you to know something, Linds. If this goes south in any way at all, I need you to move on. I need you to find someone. You deserve happiness. You deserve a good life. You deserve to be loved and feel loved.”