Don’t know why, but while I’m sure that was a statement meant to make me hurt, it makes me feel like I can breathe. There’s hope. A small sliver, but it’s still hope and I’ve got to offer something—a gift, a sacrifice, something for her to hold on to while it feels like we’re falling through a hole so deep that we’ve forgotten how to stand.
“Eli met with the Riot.”
Violet turns off the TV and the only light left in the room is from the utility pole in the yard. “What did you say?”
“Eli and the board met with the Riot. That’s what they told me in Church. He said Fiend and the others with him went rogue. That Skull and the rest of the Riot had nothing to do with our kidnapping. The Riot are working with the police and are also looking for Fiend.”
Violet blinks repeatedly. “They’d never patch you in if they knew you were telling me this.”
She’s right, and if I was a full-fledged member, they’d kick me out. “Are you going to tell on me?” I give a halfhearted grin and Violet’s mouth mirrors mine.
“Is that a dare?”
I chuckle and she nudges my foot with her toe. My brief moment of lightness dissipates as I recall the rest of the conversation with the board and contemplate how deep of a cut I want to make on my wrist. “The police are coming to talk with us tomorrow. Going to show us pictures so we can identify the guys that kidnapped us.”
I pause and the silence builds, stealing my courage instead of adding to it.
“And?”
“The board is leaving it up to me if we want the police to go after Skull and his son. If I tell them to go after them, it can cause a full-out war between our clubs. If I tell them no...” Then there will be no justice for their role. “The cops aren’t sure they can prove they were involved anyhow. Can’t disprove their claim that they were our saviors.”
“Do I get a vote?” she asks.
According to the board, no. But... “Tell me what it is.”
I expect an instant answer, but instead the bed shifts as she rolls so that she’s facing me. “Maybe we shouldn’t identify anybody. Maybe we should do nothing.”
My eyes narrow. “You think we should let them get away with what they did? To give Fiend the opportunity to hurt us again? To hurt someone else we love?”
“This war between the Terror and the Riot has been going on since we were babies. If we go after Fiend, then maybe someone who is loyal to him will come after us. Just like you’re saying why we shouldn’t go after Skull.”
“They hurt you,” I say slowly and overpronounce each word. “Someone has to face judgment for that. Men like this, they only understand one thing—punishment. If we show them we aren’t afraid—that we’re willing to pursue legal action—then it’ll stop anyone else coming behind them.”
“So you’re saying that goes for everyone but Skull.”
She’s got me cornered and I’ve got to slip right, then shift left to move the ball down the field. “You want to go after him, then I’ll tell the board yes and we’ll do everything possible to nail that bastard to the wall.”
Violet gathers her hair at the nape of her neck, then lets it go so that it flows over her shoulder. “If there was a way to keep your mom, my mom, Brandon, Cyrus, Oz, Razor and most of the people out there in that clubhouse safe, would you do it?”
“Yeah.” In a heartbeat.
“Me, too,” she whispers so quietly I’m not sure if she really said it, but then says, “If I ask you something, will you tell me the truth? At least the closest to the truth you’re willing to share?”
“Yes.”
“What did Skull talk to you about in the kitchen? I know it was serious because I read the way you looked at me when I stepped out of the bathroom. You were warning me off.”
I rub my forehead, then roll my neck. Even though I’ve admitted it once, it doesn’t get easier saying it aloud again. “Skull told me my father was a traitor. That he was loyal to the Riot, not to the Terror.”
Violet places a hand to her lips as my words soak in.
“Cyrus says it’s not true,” I add like that can take away the sting.
“What do you think?”
That I left that basement with more questions than there are possible answers. “I don’t know.” If Skull was right and my father was a traitor, then why did he trade sides? I’ve been raised to hate the Riot, but what did my father know that I don’t?
Violet reaches over and rests her hand on my cheek. Her fingertips feathering up and along my jaw. “I’m so sorry.”