Warrant (Righteous Outlaws #1) (17 page)

T
he sun was shining
, which wasn’t too out of the ordinary for this time of year, but it was for the mood I was in. Last night was nothing short of amazing, but now I had to return to reality. I had to go see my father, and let him know that I knew the truth. I knew who he really was. Knew that the perfect life he pretended we had was a complete and utter lie.

I sat on Cash’s steps in the same clothes as last night, waiting for him to finish in the shower. I had already had my chance, and pulled my wet hair out of my face, braiding it to the right side.

The fresh air was helping me clear my head and prepare myself for the day. Once today was over, life as I knew it would never be the same. I had no idea what to expect; everything was so uncertain.

The door opened and Cash stepped out, his motorcycle boots making a loud thud on the wooden porch. The chain that hung from his pants jingled as he walked. He knelt down beside me, and lit a cigarette. “You ready to do this?” he asked, taking a long drag.

He blew the smoke out, and I watched it swirl around in the air before disappearing. I wondered what it would be like to just vanish, but then I quickly let the thought slip away. I wasn’t one to hide. Not anymore at least. If you hid, you held yourself back, and that was the last thing I wanted. I wanted to move forward.

“I’m ready,” I said, getting to my feet, and running a hand over my backside.

Cash was coming with me for moral support, though he said he would stay in the car. It was better that way. If Dad saw him, I wouldn’t even have a chance to talk. He would go after Cash and blame him for everything. I wasn’t going to let him turn the tables. This was on him, and he needed to know that.

“Want me to drive?” Cash asked, and I knew that was best. Who knew what shape I would be in once I walked out of my parents’ house and didn’t look back?

“Can you? I mean, with your arm.”

“I took some pain pills. I’m pretty used to the pain now. Besides, if you’ll be pressed up against me, how can I feel bad?”

I nodded. “Okay, then.”

“Come on. We’ll take the bike.” Cash handed me a helmet, and I realized it wasn’t his. This one had a yellow sun on the back. He bought me a helmet. It was such a simple thing, but it meant the world to me.

“I told you, Sunshine. I will always protect you.” He took the helmet from my hands, and placed it on my head, adjusting the strap beneath my chin. He pressed a chaste kiss to my lips before turning back on the bike and putting his own helmet on.

We took off, the roar of the engine just barely drowning out my thoughts. It was a long drive out of Black Hills, and then over the bridge to the secluded town I grew up in. Cash brought the bike to a stop a couple houses away from mine, and killed the engine.

I removed the helmet, and took a deep breath. Dad’s Range Rover was parked in the driveway, which meant he hadn’t left for his tee time.

There was no going back now, and that was okay. I was done looking back. The only path for me was moving forward. I kicked off the bike, and Cash grabbed my arm, tugging me back to him. He held my face and kissed my forehead. “Good luck. I’ll be here for however long you need.”

I walked away, holding my head high, channeling the strength I needed to get through this. I was just about to pass the Robinson’s driveway, when a million cars, some with lights, others without, came racing down the street.

What the hell was going on? They barreled past me, pulling into my parents driveway, and up on the front lawn, completely surrounding the house.

Officers jumped out of the cars, running toward my house.

A hand clamped down on my arm, and yanked me back. I landed hard against Cash’s chest. “What’s happening?” I cried out. He hugged me to him, but I ripped away, turning back to the chaos as officers with guns kicked down the door to my childhood home.

Fear consumed me and my legs froze in place. I couldn’t move.

“We need to go. Now!” Cash yelled, guiding me back to his bike.

“No!” I screamed, ripping out of his grip. “I can’t. I need to know what’s happening. I need to make sure my family is okay.”

His arms wrapped around my stomach, and he picked me up, carrying me away. “No!” I yelled, kicking and flailing. I managed to break loose and I ran. Ran toward my house, my family.

Cash’s hand latched onto my shoulder, pulling me back. He couldn’t stop me. I needed to know. Needed to make sure my family was okay. My head spun with so many thoughts. I couldn’t seem to get a single one to form.

“Look at me!” he demanded, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t take my eyes off of what was happening. Cash shook my shoulders. “Aubree! Look at me!”

I snapped my attention to Cash and, once my eyes met his, the frantic horror coursing through me began to calm.

“We need to go.”

Tears pricked my eyes, and I didn’t even try to force them back. “I can’t go. I need to know what’s happening.”

He reached up, tucking a loose brown strand behind my ear. “You already made your choice.”

His words hit me like a brick wall, and I fell against his chest. He wrapped me in his arms, and carried me back to his bike. I secured my arms around his waist, and he took off away from the chaos. But, not before I looked back and watched as my father was shoved into a cop car.

I
drove away as fast
I could before the cops could detect me. Even if I had nothing to do with what was going down, this wasn’t exactly the type of neighborhood I would be found in. I’d be guilty by suspicion. Aubree was losing her dad, and I wasn’t about to let her lose me, too. I promised her I would always come back to her and, right now, by taking her away, I was keeping that promise.

I flew through the streets and across the bridge. I didn’t stop and look back once, not until I pulled into the club’s parking lot.

Kade walked out of the garage and smiled at us, but when he saw the look on my face that smile vanished. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“We need to talk. All of us.”

“She okay?” he asked, nodding to Aubree.

“She will be.”

“Nick was about to round us up to discuss last night anyway. You were the only one who wasn’t here. Let’s go,” Kade said, leading the way. He stopped and turned back to us. “Sienna’s inside.”

“Come on,” I said to Aubree, taking her hand and following Kade. Inside the clubhouse, all the guys were around the bar, waiting.

Nick spotted me, and clapped his hands together. “Let’s do this,” he said, taking off into our sacred room.

Sienna sat at the end of the bar, taking a sip from a bottle of water. I brought Aubree over to her. “Sienna, you remember Aubree,” I said.

“Of course. You look like you could use a drink,” she said, kicking a barstool out to Aubree.

“I could probably use a few.”

Sienna put the top back on the water bottle and tossed it in the trash. “Good. I was getting sick of drinking water anyway.”

I hung back for a moment when Sienna looked at me. “They’re waiting on you.”

I pressed a kiss to Aubree’s forehead, and then disappeared behind closed doors.

“So, what the fuck happened last night, Cash?” Nick barked, reclining back in his chair at the head of the table.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I blacked out.” And I wasn’t lying either. It happened once before when my old man died. I had so much shit going through my head that one minute I was perfectly fine, and the next I was gunning people down. That last time, they all understood. They knew what my old man meant to me and how deep his loss ran. They all felt it too. Knew I had a lot of shit going on in my head and just needed some time to get myself together. They were just happy my little freak out didn’t end with me getting killed. “It won’t happen again. I can promise you that.”

I promised Aubree I would always come back to her, and that meant that there would be no more psychotic episodes of invincibility. Besides, we had other problems that needed to be discussed that were more important than my recent death wish.

“What was last night about anyway?”

“Montamos found out about the body. But, with the show you gave them last night, I doubt they’ll be coming around anytime soon. Not that I stand by what you did, but it worked. You’re damn lucky for that.”

I nodded, accepting his criticism, and was thankful it wasn’t worse. Still, there was more to discuss. “I have other news.”

Nick nodded.

“The doc was arrested this morning.”

“How do you know?” Miles questioned.

Kade laughed. “You all didn’t know? Cash, here, is screwing his daughter.”

I smacked him upside his head. “Shut up, asshole.”

“That piece of ass out there is the doc’s daughter? Damn, who would have thought,” Dice said, and I jumped up.

“Don’t call her that!”

Kade pushed in front of me, and put his hand on my chest. “Whoa there, buddy. Back it up.”

I held my hands up. “I’m good.”

“You sure?” Kade whispered.

“I’m sure.”

He stepped out of my way, and got back into his seat. I straightened my cut, and sat my ass back down, too.

“Why’d the doc get arrested?” Phil questioned, turning his ring on his finger.

“Not sure yet. Saw the whole thing go down, and we got our asses out of there before anyone could see us.”

“I’ll hack into the system, and find out what they got him on,” Hudson said, and pulled out his laptop. He flipped it open, and his fingers started typing a mile a fucking minute.

“Whatever it is, we need to make sure it can’t get back to us,” Nick explained. “We need to make sure our hands are clean as a fucking whistle.”

“They will be,” I said. “We weren’t sloppy.”

“Agreed,” said Miles. “There’s no way it can come back to us. We’ll be good.”

“Got it,” Hudson said. “Looks like he’s in for drug trafficking. He’ll be arraigned on a forty count indictment. From the looks of it, we weren’t his only clients. They’re holding him on half a million dollars bail.”

I let out a loud breath of relief, and sunk into my chair. After a moment, I rested my hands on the arm rests and pushed up.

“Where are you going?” Nick asked. “We’re not done here.”

I turned back to him. “Sorry, but I have to go break the news to my old lady that her dad will be gone for a long time.”

A hush fell over the room, and I wasn’t sure if it was because I was walking out of church before we were finished or if it was because I shocked the shit out of them when I called the doc’s daughter my old lady. Maybe it was a little bit of both.

Nick nodded at me in understanding, and then lifted his chin to the door. Kade patted my back as I walked out to a fresh hell.