Ruthless Bastard

by Kennedy, Stacey

  A pause. Then Boone asked, “What the fuck would Bernie have to do with this?”

  Rhett holstered his gun at his hip. “That’s exactly what I’m going to find out.”

  Heavy silence fell as Rhett caught his breath, and Asher made it back out on the country road that would lead them to Stoney Creek. Until Boone broke it, and asked, “Just catch me up to speed here. Are you suggesting that Bernie is the one responsible for the attack on my sister?”

  Rhett couldn’t believe it either. Bernie was kind and considerate, a family man. “Not directly,” he explained. “But whoever did do this is somehow connected to Bernie.”

  “Unbelievable,” Asher muttered.

  “Believe it,” Rhett said, grabbing his phone and texting Cameron. I need to talk to Bernie Weis. Bring him in.

  Cameron replied: Roger that. ETA?

  Two hours. Keep him in the interrogation room.

  Consider it done.

  Rhett wanted Bernie to fret, sweat, and everything in between. “Cameron is bringing in Bernie as we speak.”

  “Good,” Asher said, tapping his thumb against the steering wheel. “Back to the station then.”

  “I need to make a stop first,” Rhett said.

  Asher glanced sideways. “To?”

  “Kinsley.”

  Chapter 13

  “Run, Kinsley, run,” Rhett roared, a dark shadow dancing around his feet until it began swirling up his body.

  “No,” Kinsley screamed, desperate to reach him. That shadow would swallow him whole, steal him away. He stood in front of a forest, but no matter how fast she ran, she only seemed to get farther away.

  The branches of the trees behind Rhett reached out. He tried to fight them off, but the shadows moved faster now up his body until they encased his neck, squeezing tight. Until his eyes went warm, accepting. “You don’t belong here,” Rhett said softly. “Run.”

  A click jolted her awake. She gasped and snapped her eyes open, quickly coming to terms with the fact that she had been dreaming. But as she heard footsteps moving closer, she realized she wasn’t alone in Boone and Peyton’s spare bedroom. Her father was sleeping on the couch for the night while Boone went off with Rhett and Asher somewhere. She jolted up to sitting, spotting a shadowy figure by the closed door.

  “It’s me,” said Rhett, his warm voice washing over her.

  “Jesus,” she exhaled, dropping back onto the bed, placing a hand over her thundering heart. “You scared the crap out of me.”

  “Sorry.” He moved in next to her, fully clothed, and she knew he wasn’t staying long.

  He gathered her close, spooning her from behind. “I wasn’t expecting you back so soon,” she said after a long moment of silence. “Everything okay?”

  His breath tickled her neck as he held her close, his arms locked around her. “We’re waiting for Bernie to be brought in. I wanted to come check in on you first.”

  Sweet and all, but…she spun in his arms, turning to face him. “Bernie?” She couldn’t see Rhett’s face in the dark room, except for the outline of his chiseled jaw. But the coffee on his breath indicated he’d planned for a long night ahead. “Why in the hell are you bringing in him?”

  Rhett tightened his arms around her. “Intel dug up his name.”

  “What intel?”

  “You know I can’t tell you that.”

  None of this made any sense. Bernie? She’d known him since she was a kid. When she’d bought the bar, he hadn’t seen her as competition and, instead, offered her advice. Suddenly, she was wide awake. “The intel has got to be wrong. He’d never be a part of my attack today. You saw him the other night; he didn’t act like someone who wants to hurt me.”

  “Never say never, Kinsley,” Rhett said, his voice a low rumble. “People do terrible things in the right circumstances.”

  Sure, she knew that was true, but not Bernie. He’d never do this to her. But the tightness in Rhett’s voice told her one thing for certain. “You actually think he’s involved?”

  Rhett hesitated then sighed heavily. “That’s what I’m going to find out when I leave here and question him.” A pause. “I admit I’m finding it hard to believe that he’d have any part in hurting you, but I don’t doubt the source.”

  She didn’t have to see his face clearly to grasp his mood. Today hadn’t been long only for her. She wiggled closer, running her toes against his leg. “I guess every question I’ve got right now, you won’t have an answer to.”

  He gathered her closer and kissed her forehead. “Believe me, when I know something worth telling, you’ll know it.”

  She nuzzled into his neck, embracing his strength, letting go of her answerless questions, and the nightmare that had woken her. All day the same thought had haunted her. Now even more so. “I’ve been thinking about something.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’m going to close the bar until this is all over.”

  His sigh tickled her forehead. “As much as I don’t like yielding to this prick’s force, until we understand what’s going on, I agree that’s a wise choice. It’s not safe for you or your employees to be at the bar.” He hesitated, his arms tightening around her. “But let’s figure that out in the morning after we talk with Bernie.”

  Her mind raced. “Should I—”

  “Kinsley,” Rhett interjected, his voice tired.

  She shut her mouth. That was a tone she’d heard growing up with her father. He needed normalcy and quiet, not questions. And her heart fluttered with the knowledge that Rhett had come to her, not a bar for a drink, and not another bed. Her. She pressed a soft kiss to his neck, shutting her eyes and leaning into him.

  Silence drifted between them, and right as she began to doze off, he asked, “Are you afraid of becoming a mother?”

  It took her a minute to truly believe he’d asked that. Rhett wasn’t deep. He didn’t do emotions. “Deathly afraid,” she admitted, wondering where he was going with this.

  “Why?” he asked.

  She leaned away and caught the shadowy outline of his cheekbone. “I don’t want to become my mother.”

  He snorted. “Impossible. You’re nothing like her, Kinsley. You’re loyal to your bones.”

  “I know that I’m nothing like her,” she said. “But I also know that what happened with my mom shaped me. It made me love those who love me harder and deeper. It made me be honest about love, because life can drown you otherwise.”

  A heaviness filled the space between them. Normally she’d fill it, but she wanted—no, needed­—to hear what was on his mind. She hoped that by her opening up, he’d realize sharing personal thoughts wasn’t so hard after all.

  He eventually asked, “If you know that, then what are you afraid of?”

  “That I’ll think of my happiness first like she did.”

  “You should think of your happiness first,” he said after a moment of consideration. “You deserve to be happy, as much as our baby deserves that too.” He slid his hand over her hip beneath her nightgown. “The difference is, your mother didn’t care who she hurt to be happy. You don’t have that in you.”

  She hoped that was true. “Are you afraid of becoming a father?” she asked, pushing on, taking advantage of his openness.

  “Today”—his voice tightened—“today was new for me. I have never felt fear like that.” She reached out with her other foot and rubbed her toe against his sock-covered foot as he went on, “But as for being a father, I’m more concerned than afraid.”

  Her foot halted its strokes. “Concerned about what?”

  “That I’m going to get this all wrong.”

  She wasn’t sure what she could say or do to break through this hard wall around him, where he felt incapable when it came to the straight and narrow. She just hoped she could…eventually. “Just be you, and you’ll get this right.”

  A pause. “Being me is what’s concerning.”

  “You know, one day, Rhett, you’re going to look back and reali
ze that you’re not nearly as scary as you think you are.”

  “And how will I realize that?”

  She snuggled into him, feeling like she belonged there. “When a little toddler looks at you with all the love in the world and wants only one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You.”

  Something shifted in the air between them then. Heat and things unexplored between them lay heavily in the space separating them. He shifted slightly until she was lying on her back again, and he placed his hand on her belly. “You need to tell me if I’m getting anything wrong, all right? I need you clear and open, always up front.”

  She swallowed against the sudden emotions that rose up within her. “Have you ever known me to withhold my thoughts?”

  He didn’t answer her question; he simply went on. “If I hurt you, tell me. If I say something wrong, tell me. If I disappoint you, tell me. I need to hear these things. I don’t want to fuck this up. Promise me you’ll be honest. Always.”

  Sudden tears welled in her eyes. “That’s an easy promise, Rhett.” She placed her hand over his, feeling his slight tremble. She understood. Today had rattled her too. But this felt like even more, like a line had been crossed today, and he couldn’t uncross it anymore. “We’re in this together,” she told him, lacing her fingers through his. “I’ll be honest. Promise.”

  “Good,” he whispered, gathering her in his arms and bringing her up against the hard lines of his body. “Go back to sleep. I’ll stay here until you do.”

  And there, in the tightness of his hold, she began to believe that maybe…just maybe…those walls of his were falling.

  * * *

  By the time Rhett got back to the station, his mood had soured. He’d wanted to stay in bed with Kinsley, ease her worries and his, not deal with the reality that the reason Kinsley had been attacked was because of someone in his town. Especially if that person was Bernie, a man that Rhett knew personally. He’d spent many nights at Bernie’s club. Mostly because when he’d looked for women to warm his bed and keep him afloat when he’d been drowning, he hadn’t wanted to shove it in Kinsley’s face, not when he knew she had feelings for him.

  As he headed down the hallway toward the interrogation room, the station was quiet around him. At a little after three in the morning, Stoney Creek was a ghost town. The bar rush had already gone home to sleep off the booze, and Main Street had been empty when Rhett had parked his truck in the station’s lot.

  He skipped the door to the interrogation room and walked into the one next to it. Boone was leaning a shoulder against the wall, arms crossed, gazing through the two-way mirror at Bernie and Asher in the interrogation room.

  “Good. You’re here,” Boone said, picking up his phone and firing off a text.

  Asher glanced at his phone, receiving Boone’s text, then flipped it over, setting it next to the file folder on the table.

  “All right, Bernie,” Asher said. “I know you’re curious about why we brought you in here today.”

  Yeah, so was Rhett.

  Bernie nodded frantically. “You’re right, I am curious, and concerned, for that matter. Why won’t anyone tell me what’s happened?”

  Rhett stepped closer to the two-way mirror. There was a good reason both he and Boone weren’t in that room. Rhett most definitely did not trust himself not to flatten Bernie if he’d had any part in Kinsley’s attack.

  “Before I tell you what’s happened, I want you to understand that I know you, Bernie.” Asher kept his hands laced on top of the table, a poster of calm. “I know the type of man you are and what you’re not.”

  Rhett didn’t know how Asher did it. He was so cool and collected with men that Rhett would’ve punched first and talked to later.

  “Okay,” said Bernie, a bead of sweat running down the side of his face.

  Asher drew in a long deep breath and then said softly, “Earlier today, Kinsley was attacked outside her bar.”

  Bernie’s eyes went huge, the shock palpable in their depths. “Dear God, is she okay?”

  Rhett cocked his head at that. Unless Bernie was a very good actor, and he doubted he was, his concern looked genuine.

  “Not quite the reaction I was expecting,” Boone said, obviously thinking along the same lines.

  Rhett crossed his arms, widening his stance. “No kidding.”

  “Kinsley and the baby are fine.” Asher’s voice grew gentler now. “Our problem here is that, through our investigation, your name came up.”

  Bernie blinked. “My name?” He shook his head, shifting in his seat. “No. No. No. Whatever you’ve heard is wrong. I would never be a part of that. I’ve known the Knight family for years.”

  “And yet, we got your name, Bernie,” Asher stated more firmly now.

  The color drained from Bernie’s face. “I don’t know why.” He blinked rapidly, his mind obviously working a mile a minute. “It’s…it’s just wrong,” he said. “I would never do that to her. To anyone.”

  Asher’s gaze flicked to the mirror.

  Boone sighed. “This doesn’t make sense.” He pointed at Bernie through the window. “That is not a man who orchestrated what happened to Kinsley. I don’t believe it for a second.”

  “Neither do I,” Rhett stated. He reached for his phone and texted Asher: Not seeing anything on our end.

  Asher looked at his phone again and then flipped it back over. “Here’s the thing, Bernie. The manner by which we got your name leaves no misunderstanding that you’re connected to this in some way. I don’t want to arrest you. But you need to tell me now, if you were not the one responsible for Kinsley’s attack, then who do you know that would do something like this? You need to explain why we got your name. If you don’t, I cannot help you.”

  Any remainder of color in Bernie’s face drained out, leaving him ghostly white. He bowed his head. His fingers trembled on top of the table as he wrung them together.

  “He’s afraid,” Rhett commented.

  “But why?” Boone said, taking a step closer to the window.

  A long moment of heavy silence followed, with Bernie keeping his head down. Then he finally said, “I had no idea any of this would happen.” Everything got real slow after that, as Bernie went on, “I only just learned about what happened the other night, but even then, I still wouldn’t have believed anyone would hurt her.” He lifted his head, tears rimming in his eyes. “I would have come forward if I’d known.”

  Asher reached out and placed a comforting hand on Bernie’s arm. “I know that, Bernie. Like I said, I know what kind of man you are.”

  Bernie visibly swallowed, a single tear trailing down his cheek. “It’s Josh.”

  “Your son, Josh?” Asher asked. At Bernie’s nod, Asher pressed, “What about him?”

  Bernie’s voice cracked. “He gambled all his money away. He lost everything, including the bar, and owes even more.”

  Asher sat quietly, letting Bernie talk in his own time.

  Bernie added, “Josh didn’t know, you know. He’s just a stupid kid. Didn’t know what he was getting himself involved in.”

  Rhett would’ve been in there shaking him to hurry up.

  Asher stayed perfectly still. “What didn’t Josh know, Bernie?” he asked.

  “What…what owing money to the wrong people would cost him. That’d they take the bar. That’d they take everything.”

  “Who are these people?”

  Bernie’s face got even paler now. “I…I didn’t know…who…I didn’t know.”

  “Bernie,” Asher said with a snap to his voice. “Who are they?”

  “The Wild Dogs,” he said. “I’ve seen the symbol on their leather jackets. It’s one of those motorcycle clubs.”

  Boone shot Rhett a look. “Do you know them?”

  “Never heard of them,” Rhett said, grabbing his phone from his pocket to search the name on the Internet.

  And right as the browser found the name, Bernie added, “I only found out whe
n they came to the bar that they’re a biker gang from New York City that’s expanding, and that Josh had taken a loan from them. He didn’t realize that the loan gave the biker gang ownership of the club.” His voice blistered. “It’s not even ours anymore. The bar. They’ve taken over. I’m there to ensure the bar’s success or Josh’s life…it’s over. They came to the house with guns…my wife…she was so afraid…”

  “You should have come to us with this, Bernie,” Asher said. “We could have helped you.”

  “I didn’t know…I just didn’t know…” He began sobbing.

  Asher’s heavy sigh was visible when he turned toward Boone and Rhett in the window.

  “It makes sense,” Boone finally said. “They now own a bar that is losing to Kinsley’s. From what she’s told me, she’s been having her best year yet. While that wasn’t a problem with Bernie, that would be a problem to this gang.”

  Rhett thrust his fingers through his hair. “The force…the warning…fuck, it does make sense.” But now that he knew the answer, he realized the danger. “If this gang is infiltrating Maine, expanding across state lines, it’s powerful.”

  Boone sighed his frustration. He rubbed his face. “Fuck, I’d rather it be King. At least I’d know what we were up against.”

  Rhett felt things he couldn’t explain even to himself. He’d faced threats before and he’d hunted high-valued targets. And he’d bring hellfire down on this gang for touching Kinsley.

  The door opened then, and Asher walked into the room, a frown marring his face. “Well, that was quite a lot to take in.”

  “No shit,” Boone grumbled. “But at least we’ve got a way to move forward now.”

  Asher gestured toward the interrogation room. “What do you want to do about him?”

  Rhett glanced at Bernie, still weeping, and for the first time in his life, he understood the man in a way he never thought he would. What would Rhett do to protect his child? Things far worse than what Bernie had done. “Cut him loose.”

  Boone and Asher balked at him.

  “The guilt over what happened to Kinsley will be a punishment that far exceeds not coming to us,” Rhett said. “And as for Josh, bring him in. Let’s press him about the Wild Dogs location.” Someone needed to answer for what had happened to her. First, Josh. Then these Wild Dogs. Rhett wouldn’t stop hunting until Kinsley, their child, and her bar were safe. “And let’s put some surveillance on Merlots in case those bastards come back.”