Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
She turns to me, and when her eyes go to my face, she looks absolutely gutted. She rushes over, and the moment she reaches me, she throws her arms around me and pulls me close. The hug hurts, but I need it. I hang onto her and she whispers ‘oh thank god’ a few times before pulling back.
My sister doesn’t cry, but tears are glistening in her eyes.
“What’s going on?” I ask, my voice croaky.
I glance past her to see Alarick standing by the sofa, and the look on his face is terrifying. He looks like he’s about to murder everyone in the room and then throw himself in front of a bus, and that’s putting it mildly. He’s panting and his fists are clenched.
I look back to her. “Zariah?” I ask.
She looks at me, and I can see the apology in her gaze. “Kendric was arrested.”
No.
No.
“What?” I gasp. “No. No, that can’t be. How?”
“I was part of the raid on Dax’s property. We found him trying to escape, and we were forced to arrest him. He was covered in dirt, and . . . we found Bennett’s body.”
“You know he didn’t do it!” I cry, shaking my head. “You know that, Zariah!”
“I know,” she says, her voice soft and a little shaky. “But if I tell them what I know, I’ll go to prison too, because I’ve been helping you when I shouldn’t. The only way I can help Kendric is from out here.”
“You let them take him?”
Her eyes plead with me to understand. “I wish you had told me. I wish you’d let me know what was happening . . . If I had known, I could have done something.”
“Like what?” Mykel growls. “Not arrest our fuckin’ brother?”
She looks to him, and her eyes harden a bit. “I did my job. I had no choice.”
“You always have a fuckin’ choice.”
Zariah shakes her head and looks back to me. “You need to tell me everything you know, Waverly. The only way I can get Kendric out of this is to have facts. Right now, it’s not looking good for him or the club. They found him, he looked like he was burying a body, there were over fifty girls in a basement and no security footage. The entire system was wiped clean. Do you understand how bad that looks for him? Do you have any idea?”
“He didn’t do it,” I say, my jaw tightening. “You have to do something!”
“What would you have me do?” she cries, shaking her head in frustration. “The police think that this club is involved with Dax and human trafficking, and they think Kendric killed a fucking cop.”
“Tell them to test the body and they’ll see his DNA isn’t on it!” I scream.
I go quiet and swallow, trying to search for calm. Calm that I simply don’t have.
This is bad. This is so bad.
“Kendric confessed. He said he was helping Dax and that the club wasn’t involved. He claimed that it was for personal reasons,” Zariah goes on to crush me even further. “If nobody here talks, they’ll have nothing to charge the club members with, but it also means Kendric will go away for a very long time. He didn’t confess to killing Bennett; he claimed Dax did that and he may get a plea deal, if he helps us find Dax . . .”
“No. No. No.” I say, gripping the sides of my head and shaking it. “No.”
“He also said that your DNA will be found on the body, because he forced you to help him . . . as far as the police know, you have nothing to do with this club and if you want to clear your name, you’re going to need to distance yourself.”
I’m going to be sick.
This is not happening.
God, someone please tell me this is not happening.
“As for the girls, he told the police that he and Dax had an arrangement to sell them, but Dax did a runner. The police are now already fully aware that Dax is bad news, and was working with Bennett, but they also believe Kendric is involved too. That’s how Dax wanted it. He’s gone, and it’s not going to be easy to find him. But if we want to clear this, we have to.”
“How the fuck are we goin’ to find him?” Samson barks, standing up from the sofa and turning to Alarick. “This is why we should have never involved a fuckin’ cop. We should have dealt with this how we wanted to. Now we’ve got a brother behind bars because you fucked up!”
With that, Samson leaves and we’re all left sitting in complete silence.
“We’ll find him,” Alarick says, his voice low and icy. “We will fuckin’ find him, and we will fuckin’ kill that motherfucker.”
“If you do that, Alarick,” Zariah says, “Kendric will go away . . .”