“I was forced to do it, man. I didn’t have a choice.” Rad takes a step forward, and Big Chief raises a gun, stopping Rad from taking another step.
“Oh, you had a choice and you didn’t choose your club,” Shadow continues.
“You chose a death certificate, motherfucker,” Lip says eerily calm.
“Zane, tell them. You know me, man,” Rad pleads, looking to Zane to help him out.
“Man, I don’t know what the hell you were thinking.” Zane shakes his head, crossing his arms. “You shouldn’t have come here.”
“This is my home, my only family.” Rad’s voice cracks with emotion, but I’m not buying it.
Those months Piper was gone, he could have come and told us where she was. Hell, he was the one that fucking took her. He’s fucking nuts.
“Bam!” Something whizzes by me, and I hunch to the ground, the rest of the guys doing the same. The sound of a gunshot having us all fleeing from the area. I look to Big Chief knowing he had to have killed Rad as he had his gun drawn, but he’s on the ground looking around him to see who fired the shot.
Piper struts through the parking lot. Barefoot, a Devil’s Dust shirt on, and long legs, a gun in her hand aimed right at Rad.
He gazes at her like a lost soul as she fires the gun again, this time his head opens up, spraying blood and brain all over the courtyard.
“Piper!” I jump to my feet and nearly knock her over trying to take the gun from her.
“No, I need to make sure!” she grits, shoving me out of the way and firing another round into his chest. Rad’s dead body jumps. “He killed Bull, this is the way it needs to be!” she screams hysterically, the news that Rad killed Bull taking me aback.
“Baby,” I shout, grabbing her wrist, I squeeze, making her release the weapon. I pull her into me, resting my chin on her shoulder.
“Rad’s dead. He’s gone.” I whisper, and I hear her sob.
“Are you sure?” she cries, trying to get past me.
“Yes, he’s gone. He can’t hurt you anymore,” I tell her, and she stops fighting me. Lip steps up beside me, and I hand him the gun, so I can hold Piper.
She cries harder, and I hold her tighter.
“He killed Bull in the hospital, he told me.” She explaines further. My eyes pop to Lip whose eyes are glossy. We had Rad check in on Bull from time to time, we didn’t even think twice about Bull dying in the hospital. Rad’s betrayal is deeper than the graves he’s created for the MC.
“It’s over,” I whisper into her hair. Shame makes my chest ache knowing she was the one who pulled the trigger. That should have been me, I should have relieved her of that burden.
“It’s done. They’re all dead,” she mumbles into my chest. “Now we can be a family.”
A black and white SUV pulls into the drive, and I turn Piper toward the club.
“Go!” I point, ordering her to get away from the scene as fast as she can.
“Fucking cops,” Lip mutters, tucking the gun in the back of his jeans. Big Chief walks behind him, snatching it out of his waistband and holding it.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I frown at him.
“I’ll take the hit, y’all need to be here for Piper.”
The door to the SUV opens, the cop spots the gun in Big Chief’s hand instantly and starts screaming orders.
“GET ON THE GROUND NOW!” He hides behind his door, his gun waved in the air and ready to throw a slug into any one of us. We are the enemy, the one percent club that is out to get law enforcement.
We all drop to the ground, placing our hands on our heads, except Big Chief. He stands like a caveman looking back at the cops like he’s about to ride a fucking bull.
“You, toss the weapon and drop to your knees now!” the officer demands.
“Fucking do it!” I yell at him. Chief does as he’s told and tosses the gun, falling to his knees and placing his hands behind his head.
The cop doesn’t move as he mumbles something into the radio attached to his shoulder. He’s calling for backup, too afraid to try to come at us by himself. I don’t blame him. There’s a dead body just feet in front of us and half a dozen felons who could have done it.
Laying on the ground, I twist my head toward the club. Piper is standing in the doorway of the club, one hand on her belly, the other on the glass. We stare at each other for what feels like twenty minutes before three other cop cars and a sheriff show up. They start arresting all of us outside, they throw Big Chief into the back of a cruiser without even questioning him.
A knee is pressed into my back, as the cop reads me my rights. My spine feeling like it’s about to fucking snap at any moment.
“Jesus Christ, I’m not resisting, get your fat knee out of my back, asshole!” I grunt as my hands are cuffed. He pulls me up using my arm and starts shoving me toward a cruiser.
“NO, he didn’t do anything!” Piper screams, running from the club.
“Ma’am, get back inside!” a cop orders her, but she doesn’t listen, she tries to get to me, pushing the cop out of her way. He manhandles her, slamming her up against the building and I lose my shit.
“Get the fuck off her, she’s pregnant!” I headbutt the cop that has me and start toward her. But before I can make it, I’m thrown to the ground, my chin slamming into the pavement.
“Leave her alone, she didn’t do anything!” I protest.
Cherry runs outside, coming to Piper’s aid, talking the cop down as I’m thrown into a cruiser with Big Chief. I look to him, my chin dripping blood.
“I can’t go to jail.” I need to be here for Piper, I just got her back.
“Your momma is going to kill you.” Big Chief smirks, trying to make light of the situation. I rest my head on the cage in front of me and sigh.
“Yeah, that too.”
Sitting in an interrogation room, a bald man with a fat face stares at me while holding a cup of coffee. Every once in a while he’ll turn his head to the side, but he doesn’t say anything. There’s no clock in here so I don’t know how long this goes on for, but it feels like hours.
“Shouldn’t you be asking me questions or something?” I finally ask, sitting back, my cuffed hands in my lap.
“Is there something you want to confess?” he asks, his mustache dancing with his lips.
I shut up right there. We’ll just eye fuck each other.
The door to the left opens and the chief of police comes in.
“Get out, Gail.”
Bald man Gail, stands, taking his coffee with him.
“This is bullshit, captain.” Gail huffs before leaving the small room.
Chief sits down and rubs his jaw with his hand. He’s married. His ring reflecting off the one light in the room.
“You guys are a fucking mess,” he mutters.
“Self-defense?” he asks me, and I narrow my brows, unsure of the angle he’s taking.
“Your club, as you call it, kicked out a member who became hostile and kidnapped one of your members who goes by the name of Piper. She escaped, and you guys forgot to call that in and when he returned and attacked her, self-defense was taken place.” He tells me, not asks me.
“Let your president know we will be in touch for the arrangements we had discussed prior?” He raises his brows waiting for my response.