Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114819 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 574(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114819 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 574(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
The full weight of Keyes’s stare had him questioning his decision to come clean.
“And what’s comin’?” Keyes asked.
“I don’t know exactly. Whatever Cash is doin’ here means it’s bad. Shit’s goin’ down with the club. There’s theft, and I’m not sure what that means. Cash’s department knows all about the runs we’ve been doin’ on the side. I don’t know how they know. The leak’s gotta be comin’ from somewhere. My guess is an agent’s in the Disciples ranks but I’m not sure.”
Keyes stared at him for a second or two longer before he looked away and scrubbed that calloused hand down his own face. “What the fuck, man? This is…”
“You looked happy,” Dev said, cutting Keyes off, trying to find something positive to say. “I’ve never seen you so happy.” When Keyes only stared at him, he decided that look meant he needed more information. “They have pictures of you and your dude at his house. That’s where you’ve carried on this relationship, right? His house.”
“Yes,” Alec said, drawing their attention to the open door. “I’m sorry to interrupt. Agent Ryan just hit the high points.”
Dev looked past Alec to see Cash leaning with his back against the hall wall, his arms crossed over his chest, his head tilted toward the bedroom. He lifted his chin Dev’s direction. Their gazes locked.
“So you’re playin’ both sides,” Keyes said to Dev. “If the club finds out, you’re dead.”
“It’s complicated.” Dev paused then shook his head. “It’s not that complicated. You’re pretty much right on.”
“Those drug runs were always sketch to me,” Keyes said, looking past him to Alec who had come inside the room, but stayed at a distance. Cash had taken Alec’s place in the doorway. “I never understood what we were doin’. The loads were always different but large. Not a few crates here or there but a substantial load. Eighteen-wheeler size hauls.”
“Right,” Dev agreed. “Even with what the Disciples kept and sold on the street, it was too large. They never made much sense, but I also never questioned it. I’m gonna tackle it soon. I’m goin’ in as second.”
Keyes jumped to his feet. “What?” he bellowed, anger clear in his tone. Pretty much summed up the way Dev felt about it too. His friend threw his hands in the air and began to pace the small room. “That’s a bad fuckin’ idea. Especially after everything you just fuckin’ said.” Keyes turned abruptly toward Cash, unafraid of any potential consequences. He pointed a stern, menacing finger at the agent. “That’s a bad fuckin’ idea.”
“Cash didn’t ask me to. I made the decision on my own. We need answers, so I gotta get in on the inside,” Dev said quietly, staring down at the pattern in the carpet. “But I honestly have a strong sense of retaliation aimed at hurtin’ my old man. A serious need to wreak havoc on him.” His tone softened to almost a whispered hiss. His demons battled fiercely inside him. They were absolutely going to have their day at his old man’s expense, whatever that meant, damn the consequences.
He glanced at Keyes whose expression became concerned at whatever he saw.
“Well, ’course, if you’ve got solid proof about Abi and Mae then Fox needs his ass handed to him,” Keyes said, looking over his shoulder to Cash, nodding, giving his approval.
Cash stayed quiet, staring at Dev. The agent did passive so damned well.
“Tena confirmed it,” Dev said. “Shanna knew too. She’s the one who delivered the blow…” Dev abruptly stopped speaking. Goddammit, he knocked the butt of his palm against his temple. He hadn’t planned to bring Shanna up. “I suck at bein’ anything but honest. I figured that’s why you kept your secret from me. It was safer that way.”
Keyes’s sudden grin spoke to the truth of his assumption. “So what? Shanna’s in on this?”
“Yeah, she’s been undercover for a while. And the pretty boy over there and I are together. The air quotes I used earlier were a lie. Like we’re in a very dysfunctional relationship.” The air in the room shifted as all heads turned toward Cash. “He says he’s in love. With me. Just in case that wasn’t clear.” Dev snapped his fingers together to draw Keyes’s attention back to him. “Fuck. Remember that kid that got shanked in the street initiation when we were like ten years old?”
He waited for a second or two. Maybe as long as a minute for Keyes to remember. It never happened. Dev went to Keyes, wrapped an arm around his brother’s shoulders, patting Keyes’s chest as he stared at Cash. “Me too, man. I didn’t remember either. Everybody in my life remembers him, but I didn’t for a long time. He’s got a badass scar from his lower back all the way up his side. You ran for help. I jumped in the fight. That’s the kid we tried to help. Cash puts up with an infinite amount of bullshit from me even though he threatens to shove me in witness protection about every other day.”