Darkness at the Edge of Town (Iris Ballard #2)(94)

“She’s lying,” Paul said.

“I’m not!” I took a second to compose myself. “I hurt you. I get it. And I am sorry from the depths of my soul. I’m sorry. But all of this is a moot fucking point. You’re in danger, Paul. You need to leave this place while you can. You can still come with us. You can still find a woman who loves you for you. You can. You need to—”



“What’s going on?” a woman shouted from the farmhouse.

We all turned and found Megan running in our direction. “It’s Billy’s sister and her boyfriend! I caught them!” Paul shouted back.

Here we go, I thought.

Megan double-timed it, and I stepped back to Luke. A united fucking front. When she reached us, though she was out of breath, she still chuckled cruelly. “Gotta give it to you. You got balls.”

“Biggest in North America, I’m told,” I said, matching her cruel grin.

“She says she’s looking for Billy,” Paul said.

“Let me see him, and I’ll leave,” I said.

“Yeah. Right. You do realize you’re trespassing. Didn’t you see the signs? We shoot trespassers on sight.”

“Yeah, shooting an FBI agent when you’re under federal investigation. Smart,” I said.

Megan scoffed. “You’re armed. And we can get thirty-plus witnesses who’ll say you both drew on me and had to be shot.”

“Yeah, except I don’t have a gun,” I said. Luke convinced me not to carry one for this very reason.

“Nobody’s shooting anybody,” Luke said. “We’re leaving. Iris?” He took my arm.

“Megan!” a man shouted from the farmhouse.

Of course, I thought. The more the fucking merrier.

Mathias stood on the porch with Ken at his side. “Escort our guests over here. I think Dr. Ballard and I need to have another chat.”



Megan smiled at us. “You heard the man. Don’t be rude.”

“We’re not going anywhere,” Luke said.

“Oh, yes you are. Because if you don’t, I guarantee we will make good on those signs. And we can make sure your bodies are never found.”

“Except people know we’re here and that would be a giant mistake, which we both know,” Luke said. “He wants to talk to us? He can do it out here. In front of all these witnesses. Getting one or two people to lie, maybe, but a dozen under pressure? I don’t think so.”

“Gorgeous and smart. Don’t know why she stepped out on you with our Paul here. No offense, babes,” Megan said to Paul. “Go get them.” Paul nodded and began running back to the house, leaving us with the smirking Megan. “I almost fucked her too, you know.”

“Not in your wildest dreams, sweetheart,” I said. “But I have to ask. How many of his biker partners did Mathias suggest you fuck? One? A dozen? Or maybe you’ve moved up in the ranks and he has you handling the girls and guys like Paul. Is that why you’re so loyal? Because he promoted you from whore to madam?”

“I’m not a whore,” she said.

“Right. Just keep telling yourself that, sister—that is when you’re not telling yourself Mathias wouldn’t sell you for a corn chip. You, Paul, Helen—you’re all disposable to him. Use your brain. You’ve got one. I can’t believe you’re letting a player play you, Megan. I gave you more credit than that. Or is it just out of misplaced loyalty? I admire it, I do, but he’s not worthy of that loyalty. The sky’s falling, girl, and Mathias will push you under a chunk of it to save himself in less than a heartbeat. Don’t let him do that to you. I’d get out while the getting’s good.”



I think she heard me. The corners of her eyes and mouth tensed. “Aren’t you sweet to worry. But I’m not going to take advice on loyalty from you. You cheated on your husband with Agent Hudson here, then you cheated on him with Paul. He—”

“Just because you two keep saying it won’t make it true,” I cut in.

“And you lying about it won’t unfuck my friend,” she countered. “You know nothing about loyalty. About family.”

“You know that the Mansons considered themselves a family too,” I pointed out. “Keep that in mind when those chunks fall out of the sky.” I looked over her shoulder. “And here comes Charlie now.”

Paul, Ken, Betsy, and Mathias walked right over. Mathias appeared at ease in his white button-down shirt and jeans, but the others glared at us. Ken’s lip even curled a little. Luke moved in closer so our arms touched. “Dr. Ballard. And I assume you must be Special Agent Hudson. I’m Mathias Morning,” he said, holding out his hand to Luke.

Luke just looked at the hand, then up at the man himself. “Really? I thought it was Samuel Mueller. Or was it David Marshall? Peter McMillian?” Luke asked. “What did your last cult call you? Samuel McCormack?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Mathias said without missing a beat. “Is that why you’re here? To spread more lies about me? Enlisting the DEA to do that very task wasn’t enough, you had to come in person and do it?”

“I came to talk to my brother. Where is he? Do you have him locked away somewhere?”