I place my hand on his thigh, squeezing in understanding.
Trying to figure out who is playing who and why is starting to give me a permanent headache too.
“Does he know about Howie?” Bry inquires. Concern stretches across his face.
“That’s probably how he made the connection,” Saint surmises.
“Howie is pissed you wouldn’t let him come with me.” Bry props his butt against the arm of the couch.
“I don’t fucking care,” Saint snaps, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“He knows he fucked up, but he’s genuinely sorry.”
“He left me with that monster,” Saint snarls. “It’s not something I’ll forgive overnight, if ever.”
Bry gulps. “Fair enough.” He wets his lips, clearing his throat. “But I hope you and I can start over. Wipe the slate clean.”
Caz walks between the couches, setting a plate loaded with sandwiches and wraps down on the coffee tables as he chuckles. “Aw, does Unky Bryant want a play date with his cute little nephew?”
Saint leaps from the couch, tackling Caz to the ground. Bry looks on in amusement as they roll around, throwing a few punches and jabs. Grabbing a chicken wrap, I munch on it while I watch the big kids play-wrestle on the ground. “Will you tell Howie that Sinner knows?” I ask when Caz and Saint quit messing around, climbing to their feet with matching grins.
“I should, so he’s in the loop, but he’s a bit of a loose cannon right now. He’s completely obsessed with taking Sinner down, in a way that’s not healthy, and I’m becoming more and more concerned. He’ll go crazy if I tell him, and I don’t trust he won’t do something reckless.” Bry reaches into his inside pocket, handing me an envelope. “I almost forgot. That’s the McKenzie recording. Howie said there are no other copies and he’s wiped all trace of it from his computer.”
I hand the envelope to Theo, and he immediately tosses it in the fire.
Saint flops down on the couch beside me, snatching a wrap and biting into it, swallowing half of it in one go.
Bry coughs, reclaiming my attention. He’s holding a silver-plated tin box in his hand, looking a little apprehensive. “I have something else I thought might come in handy.” He hands it to me, and I place it on my lap before opening it.
“What is this?” Galen inquires, peering at the two guns inside. They are sealed in a plastic bag on top of a dried blood-soaked rag.
Bry’s features soften, and he lowers his voice. “The guns are the ones used to kill Sariah Roark’s family.”
I can barely breathe over the messy ball of emotion clogging my throat. A hush descends over the room, and the only sound is the crackling of the fire.
“What?” I splutter, tears instantly stabbing my eyes. “How do you have this?”
“I stole it from Archer Quinn’s safe last night,” he confirms, and all the blood drains from my face.
“Fuck.” Saint stares at him with newfound respect. “Was that smart?”
He shrugs casually. “I broke in, in the middle of the night, wearing a full disguise. I disabled the camera feeds before destroying the one I’d installed. There is no trace it was me. The Arrows will know come Friday night, but by then it’ll be too late.”
“The Arrows murdered Sariah’s family? She always thought it was The Sainthood.” I rub the ache tightening my chest. Her entire family was gunned down in a drug deal gone wrong. Sariah only survived the massacre because she played dead.
“I overheard a conversation Archer had with a couple of his board members last night. They’re onto Diego. They know he’s an FBI informant. I watched Archer place that tin in the safe. After the board left, his number two asked him why he kept such incriminating evidence. He said it ensured loyalty because most of the board had been involved and their fingerprints were on the weapons. I figure he plans to use that against Diego.”
“So, if they go down, he does too,” Caz says, filling in the rest.
“They’re gonna put a bullet in his skull,” Saint says. “That’s usually the way these things go down. That evidence is insurance in case the FBI decide to prosecute on the grounds of Diego’s testimony, even if he’s dead. They’ll use that to discredit him.”
“We should let Diesel know about Diego so the FBI can protect him,” I suggest. “He was due to reach out to them anyway. Might as well give him something to extend an olive branch with.”
“I’m on it,” Theo says, his fingers already flying over the keypad of his tablet.
Galen wraps his arm around me, pulling me into his side, while Saint grips my hand on the other side, squeezing my fingers. “What do you want to do with it, Lo?” Saint asks.
“I want justice for Sariah’s family. I want her grandma Lorna to finally see the men responsible put behind bars.”
“We can’t interfere with Friday, or Sinner will murder us all in cold blood,” Galen says, eyeing Saint over my shoulder.
“Why don’t we let Friday go down as planned and ask Diesel to give this to the FBI on Saturday morning,” Theo suggests, and it’s a good idea. I nod, giving him a sad smile.
“The Arrows will be dead in the water by the time this weekend rolls around,” Caz says.
“Two enemies down, one left to go,” Saint adds, squeezing my hand. “Payback can’t come soon enough.”
_______________
WE’RE BUSY THE rest of the week, making last-minute plans with Diesel for the fake assassination and scheduling a time to hand over the package from Bry to the FBI. I’m not sure what’s happened with Diego, but I don’t really care. We passed on the intel. Whether the FBI acts to protect their informant is on them.
On Friday night, Saint, Galen, and Caz go with the rest of The Sainthood to ambush The Arrows warehouse. Theo and I sit it out, primarily because the guys don’t want me anywhere near the showdown. Plus, we want to prepare for tomorrow. I need to take a few practice shots, and Theo wants to test hacking into the apartment’s security systems in a dummy run before tomorrow. That excuse should appease Sinner, but one can never be sure where that psycho is concerned.
The guys return in the early hours of Saturday morning, exhausted but uninjured, and my taut muscles finally relax. Their clothes are covered with blood splatters, so they strip in the living room, throwing the tainted clothing in the fire while telling us about the successful ambush.
The Sainthood had the element of surprise, and they cleaned out The Arrows warehouse, before sending them an anonymous tip that sent the rival gang racing to protect their supplies store, only to find they were too late. It was a bloodbath, according to Saint, ending with most of The Arrows either injured or killed.
The news is all over the TV screens a few hours later, and we watch reports of the carnage as we quietly eat breakfast. Chaos has erupted on the streets of Prestwick as protesters take to the streets, calling on the governor and the commissioner to take a firm hand in tackling the increasing gang violence.
Diesel calls a couple hours later to confirm the FBI has the evidence and he expects arrests to be made in the coming days, as soon as they have verified the evidence is legit.
Galen comes with me to Lorna’s house, because I want to deliver the news to Sar’s grandma in person. Lorna collapses in my arms, sobbing with relief, and I only wish my bestie were here to witness justice being served.