But Bull had other ideas. “You still with us? Pay attention, now, Jack, because I’m only going to say this once. You do not go off on your own to get this piece of shit. You got me?
“We are an MC, we are your brothers, we work together as a team. We also got help—Steph has more info feeding in, but we don’t know enough yet. We don’t know where this McAfee is, we don’t know where he’s staying, we don’t know where he’s been.
“We do know he’s got a gun, and we know he’s crazy enough to kill. And we know—or, we think we know—that you are the next one in his sights.
“So you are not the one who should be riding around seeking him out. He might find you first. And then what good are you to that woman you’re about to marry, or to that baby boy, your brother’s son?
“You have responsibilities now, son, and you have to think hard and long first, before you can go out and get that revenge I know you need in your blood.”
Fuck fuck shit. He was right.
I had one big question I had to ask. I thought I already knew the answer, and it wasn’t likely to make me happy, but I needed to know, I needed someone to say it. I needed to be sure.
“How did you find out? How did we suddenly get intel on Keith’s killer?”
And the answer I had dreaded came swiftly, from Grath. He knew how much this would hurt, too, so he spoke it softly. “Ellie.”
Of course it was Ellie. Who else could it be? That fucking bitch. She knew. All this time, she knew. And she had let the fucker walk.
I nodded, stood up, containing my rage, and walked carefully to the door, gathering my thoughts and taking a minute to breathe.
And then I put my fist through the wall.
Chapter 16
Ellie
When I woke up the next morning, there was a lot of bustling noise and women’s voices coming from the living room and kitchen, and it made no sense to me. It wasn’t even eight yet. Since Peter’s last feeding, I’d managed to pull another two hours of sleep in, but the grog ruled my brain.
I rolled into a squat and eased my way up to standing, stretching out my back and legs and arms as I went, trying to get some blood flowing up north, but sleep mode had me in a tight lockdown.
By rote, I checked on Peter. He was still asleep, and the monitor was on. I wandered into the living room, my eyes barely opened. My body moved of its own volition toward the kitchen, seeking the coffeemaker by muscle memory—no credit due to my brain.
“Great, you’re up! Good morning! Oooh, today is going to be so much fun! But we have…”
Whoever it was was talking an awful lot. I tried to listen at first, but gave up fairly quickly; the words wouldn’t register yet, anyway. There were at least two or three female bodies moving around, in various colors. I saw blue jeans, a yellow skirt, a white top, some pinks…yep, women. Was Jack having a party? This early in the morning? Huh. Maybe I should be insulted.
Still, they seemed happy. I didn’t want to be rude. “Mmerng.”
Jack stood with his hip to the breakfast bar, arms crossed over his chest. I got confused with all the bodies in the way, and lost track of where I had been headed, and why. So I stood there, in the middle of the kitchen, muddled.
“Ellie. Look at me.”
Did he have to sound so dominant? Pshhht. I guessed he did. He couldn’t help himself. But it was kind of nice to have some direction all the same, so I looked at him.
He was watching me with a strange expression, like he was angry but about to laugh at the same time.
“Coffee.”
Oh! Right. Coffee. That’s what I came in here for. Coffee.
I nodded and looked around to see where I might find the coffeemaker.
“Ellie, it’s next to the fridge.”
I located it and moved to the counter where it perched. After standing in front of it for a few seconds, I remembered to find the mugs in the cabinet above.
The ladies were still buzzing around in their own high-pitched world, and I was not tuning in yet. But what I did hear was Jack’s low rumble of a chuckle, and he came up behind me just as I was putting the carafe back onto the hotplate. He put an arm around my shoulders, in front of me, pulling me back into his chest and putting his lips close to my ear. “I can’t stay mad at you when you’re like this. But I am mad at you, and we will talk later.” His voice was so low, I was pretty sure nobody else could hear what he said. I’m not even sure that’s exactly what he said, but that was the gist of it.