“Where is he!”
“Your son? He’s with his mother, of course.”
“You just can’t make them disappear. I have rights as his father!”
“Who says you’re the father? Nicole certainly hasn’t. You told her to keep your name off the birth certificate so she could get a check. If I believe correctly, her exact words to the public assistant worker were that she didn’t know who the father was, that it was a one-night stand, and she had no way of finding out who it was.”
“That’s bullshit. DNA will prove he’s mine!”
“You have to find them first, then you’ll have to find a lawyer. How are you going to afford that? You don’t even have a job. Even if the boy comes out as yours, you’re going to have to reimburse the state for the medical bills and child support. In case you don’t know, that’s fraud.”
“They can’t prove that I knew. I could have just found out.”
“Damn, you need to look over your head.” Shade pointed at the camera angled at Harvey’s cell. “Our conversation is being recorded. You knew that baby was yours, and you deliberately had Nicole lie. Like I said, that’s fraud.”
Harvey tried to reach through the bars for him.
Shade gave him an evil smirk. “You don’t know how much I wish you could reach me. The only reason you’re still breathing is because I have a better use for you instead of being worm food.”
Harvey looked at the camera again.
“Don’t worry that Knox is still listening. This part won’t be a part of the tape that he hands over to the D.A.”
Harvey slumped against the cell door. “What do you want?”
“I want to know who paid you to use Lily to get to me?”
When Harvey started to open his mouth, Shade could tell he was going to lie.
“Before you start lying your ass off, let me stop you. I know for a fact that new trailer you put a down payment on last month didn’t come from you working. Nor did you make it selling pot or drugs on the side. Greer Porter knows who’s selling what and where, so don’t bother going that route. You have two options. Only two. Tell me what I want to know or you’re never going to see that son of yours again. You will be sitting in this cell until hell freezes over.”
“He said he’d kill me if I told.”
“Give me a name.”
“I don’t have one.” Harvey woodenly went to sit on the side of his bed.
“How did he give you the money?”
“It was sitting in the seat of my truck when I came out one morning.”
“How much did he give you?”
“Ten grand. Told me that he’d give me the same amount every month that you don’t go back to Nashville.”
“How did he contact you?”
“He called me.”
“How’d he get your number?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t ask. At first, I thought it was a joke until he gave me the money. I was so broke I really didn’t care. I just wanted the money. Can I go home now? I told you everything.”
Shade stared at him unfeelingly. “You don’t have a home anymore. Didn’t they tell you? Whoever hooked your trailer to the gas line did a shit job. There’s nothing left. I hope you had insurance. If you didn’t, sorry about your luck.”
Harvey’s jumped off the bunk and within three steps his body hit the cell bars so hard they shook.
Shade gave a smile that belied how angry he was.
Unafraid of the hand that was reaching for him, he stood and struck out his hand, grabbing the top of Harvey’s prison jumpsuit then smashing his face into the iron bars.
“You little shit, I would have paid for that trailer in full and gave you ten grand a month if you had come to me. All you had to do was tell me someone wanted you to harass Lily to keep me here and I would have taken care of you.” Shade pushed him back then smashed his face into the bars again like a rag doll. “Doing the right thing never occurred to you, because you’re a piece of shit. I hope you took plenty of pictures of your son, because he’ll be grown before you see him again.” Smashing him into the bars one more time, he flung him backward.
Shade didn’t even wait for Harvey to hit the floor before striding away.
“Wait! You can’t just leave me here!”
“Watch me.”
Shade raised his fist to knock on the door for Knox to let him out when Harvey broke.
“Tell me what to do and I’ll do it!”
Shade paused at the shouted plea.
“I’ll do anything you want.”
Shade moved back to the cell.
“You’re useless to me. Whoever paid you will have seen Greer bring you outside. He’ll know you talked to me.
“When I leave here, I’m going to the diner and will make sure I drop a hint or two that I’m going to pay for a lawyer for you. Let’s hope whoever paid you isn’t a man of his word. If so, you’re fucked.”
“He’ll kill me.”
“Why are you afraid of someone you don’t know? You know me and you weren’t afraid to take me on.”
“That’s different. He promised to protect me. He said he would have my back.”
“You can’t be that stupid.”
“I fucked up! Don’t you think I know it? Just tell me what you want me to do to fix this and I’ll do it!”
“You think you can take back the way you treated my wife? That you threatened to show fake nude pictures of her to a community that Lily loves? I could have turned the other cheek if you had just kept the target on me, but you didn’t. You used Lily as a pawn, well aware of how much she means to me. Those are consequences you’re going to regret for the rest of your shitty life. I’ll make sure of that. Until I decide to bring your misery to an end, you’re going to do exactly what I want for exactly how long I want. Do you get my meaning? If not, it’s fair game who’s going to kill you first: me or whoever the fuck paid you.”
Shade turned and started walking away again.
“Aren’t you going to get me out?”
“No, I’m going to go have lunch at the diner with Greer. You’re going to sit here until I make sure everyone in town knows who’s footing your legal bill.”
“You’ll get me killed for being a snitch!”
Shade heartlessly knocked on the door, wanting out. “That’s the plan.”
CHAPTER 10
Shade crossed the street to the diner. Entering, he flicked his eyes over the busy restaurant, spotting the men he was looking for.
Taking the chair next to Rider, he met Viper’s grim expression with a curt nod.
“Did you tell Harvey that The Last Riders would be taking care of his legal bills?” The president of The Last Riders made no attempt to keep his voice low.
“I did. He was crying with gratitude when I left him.”
“The Last Riders always take care of their own.” Viper motioned for the approaching waitress to refill his and Rider’s cups, his comment placing a target on Harvey’s back. “You want a cup?”
“Yes.”
The waitress left to get him a cup after refilling the two on the table. They remained silent until the waitress returned, then moved on to wait on her other customers.
“Did you ask Greer if there was anyone new in town?” Viper asked the question so only the ones at their table could hear. Shade did the same.
“He said, take your pick. That the town is full of strangers for Dalton and T.A.’s wedding.”
“Whoever it is obviously sees you as the main obstacle of getting to Ginny.”
Both he and Viper glanced at Rider, who was spooning the last of his chocolate sundae into his mouth.
Shrugging, he gave them an arrogant smirk. “I told you that being a clown has its advantages.”
“I wouldn’t be so smug.” Viper shoved his coffee cup away. “When he can’t get rid of Shade, he’ll go for you. I’m actually surprised he didn’t go for you first. Jo is as accessible as Lily.”
Rider continued eating, un
perturbed by Viper’s warning. “No one comes to her house unless it’s one of The Last Riders to visit us, and she only works on our vehicles. No one gets close enough to her to make trouble. Even if they tried, it wouldn’t work with Wizard watching her and the baby when I’m gone.”
Shade clenched his hands over the spoon by his coffee cup. Rider had done a better job of protecting Jo than he had Lily.
The realization felt as if someone had ripped his chest open and removed his heart with one jerk. Harvey had slipped through the crack, one that would never be accessible again.
“I won’t be going back to Nashville. One of the other brothers will have to take my place. I’m done. I’ll do what I can here, but count me out for anything more.”
Shade starkly waited for Viper’s and Rider’s reactions.
All the brothers were good, but the methodical thinking that only another killer could outsmart like he and Rider would leave Ginny vulnerable.
“I want to help Ginny, but Jo and I being apart continuously so I can take Shade’s place is a no-go. We want it over as much as you do, but there is no fucking way I’m going to be gone month after month. Wizard can take Shade’s place. I’ll find another brother to watch Jo when I’m gone.”