Knox (Dead Souls MC Book 1)

by Savannah Rylan

  Rose ran off into her office and left me alone with the man.

  “I should fire you,” he said.

  “I’m hoping you won’t,” I said.

  “If this blows up in your face, I’ll have to,” he said.

  “That’s fine. I can handle that. This was at the bottom of the evidence box. Just sitting there. We have to figure out how long it’s been in there.”

  “Was the box unsealed? Or did you have to break the tape?” he asked.

  “Unsealed. The man at the desk said he was going to be sealing it today.”

  “That means it was probably snuck in after the fact. There’s a good chance the prosecution didn’t have this during the trial.”

  “Any way to prove that?” I asked.

  “No, which is why I’m coming at it from the other angle. If this was slipped in after the fact, then it means two things. One, someone in that police department is dirty, and two, whoever retired it feels we’re getting too close.”

  “Okay. I’ve got the autopsy report, but I’ve also pulled a few other files,” Rose said.

  “What other files?” I asked.

  “I recognize the measurements on that knife. I’ve practically memorized them. A couple of years ago, The Dead Souls had a string of people in their club who were attacked and killed. Some survived, but most of them died. All within the span of a year, and all of them unsolved,” Rose said.

  “Why unsolved?” I asked.

  “We couldn’t find the murder weapon. Ever. It was all circumstantial and all the leads we had led to dead ends. But each wound was the same. Four inches deep and one and a half inches wide with a partially serrated edge. But The Dead Souls were adamant it was The Black Saddles. Every single time,” Rose said.

  I looked over Bradley’s shoulders at the knife on his screen. The first two inches of the blade was a smooth blade before the last two inches were serrated. It was exactly four inches long and just shy of one and a half inches wide.

  “Holy shit,” Bradley said.

  “This is the murder weapon from all those crimes, isn’t it?” I asked.

  “I think the prosecution had this the entire time. But they knew if they presented it, then it would land their clients in hot water for the rest of these crimes we had on file,” Rose said.

  “Why didn’t this come up in trial?” I asked.

  “No murder weapon,” Bradley said. “Can’t connect crimes if there’s no murder weapon.”

  “This is all so…”

  “I know. We didn’t expect to be bringing you in on this kind of case. We’ll tolerate your questions for now,” Rose said.

  I giggled somewhat hysterically as I turned towards the window. My mind was racing, trying to put the pieces into their proper places. I closed my eyes and saw the knife. Knox’s boot. The autopsy report. I combed through every piece of evidence I saw in that box before Rose’s words echoed off the corners of my mind.

  “You said The Dead Souls were adamant it was The Black Saddles.”

  “Yes,” Rose said.

  “Does that mean one of The Black Saddles killed their own?” I asked.

  I whipped around as Bradley slowly turned my way. His eyes connected with mine as Rose looked me up and down. It was a logical question. A logical conclusion based on what Rose had said.

  “We have to get that knife in our custody,” Bradley said.

  “We’ll need a warrant from a judge,” Rose said.

  “I have no connections like that around here yet,” I said. “If anything, I owe too many favors.”

  “How do you think we made our connections?” Rose asked.

  “Go down to the courthouse and do whatever you did on that officer in the evidence locker. You’ll owe favors for awhile, but eventually the tide will swing in your favor,” Bradley asked.

  Were they serious? Did they actually expect me to try and throw myself at a judge?

  But then, another thought crossed my mind.

  “What?” Rose asked. “What’s that look?”

  “You need a warrant? I’ll get you a warrant,” I said.

  Then I grabbed my coffee and raced out the door.

  I had a meeting with a certain Latin Cobra to arrange.

  Chapter 27

  Knox

  I was glad I’d gotten Everly’s number, because once I filled in Diesel on what happened he wanted me to bring her by. I dialed her number and it took me a few tries to get her, but she eventually picked up. I told her she needed to come back because the guys wanted to see her.

  She was hesitant, but I got her to agree to come.

  The two of us hopped on my bike and away we went. She was clinging to me, trying to hold on for dear life. It was obvious she’d never been on a motorcycle, which told me right there how ‘close’ her and her brother were. We rode out into the woods and kicked up dust, riding around so I could make sure we weren’t being followed.

  The two of us pulled up and the guys were all standing outside. I hopped off my bike and set it up, then I offered my hand to help Everly. She took it gladly and slid off, making some comment under her breath about how her brother needed to take a lesson from us.

  I wasn’t sure what she meant, but I figured it was probably a good thing.

  “This her?” Diesel asked.

  “If by ‘her’, you mean Rex’s sister, then yes,” Everly said.

  “You gotta name?” Grave asked.

  “Everly,” she said.

  “Pretty name for a pretty girl,” Grave said.

  “Down boy. Not what she’s here for,” Diesel said.

  “What? Can’t I admire the beauty of my surroundings?” Grave asked.

  “I’ll tickle your fancy later,” Everly said. “Right now, I think you’re going to want to hear my story.”

  I watched Grave’s face light up with her enthusiasm and retorts. She really was right up his alleyway. Sassy. Confident. Independent and didn’t take any shit. That was the kind of woman Grave needed. Someone who wasn’t afraid to rope his violent ass in.

  “What’s going on?” Mick asked. “Why’s she here?”

  “Because I’m proof Knoxy boy here didn’t kill Blaze,” she said.

  “‘Knoxy boy’?” Grave asked with a grin. “I like it. Can we use that?”

  “No,” I said.

  “I was there that night,” she said. “I was on the other side of the fire, but I was there.”

  “Fuck. I knew she looked familiar,” Brewer said.

  “You saw her?” Diesel asked.

  “I mean, it’s hard to miss that pile of blonde hair. You were wearing a green top, right?” Brewer asked.

  “With some blue jeans, yes,” she said.

  “And a fucking… um… damn, it’s not a coat. But uh…”

  “Cardigan?” she asked.

  “That. It was light pink. Yeah. I remember you,” Brewer said.

  “What happened?” Diesel asked.

  “Rex wanted me and a couple of other girls there to get out of dodge. But I didn’t want to leave him. My brother’s a hot-headed idiot who gets himself into more trouble than he can manage and I was prepared to bail him out. But when the fight started, I thought about running. Getting out of there and all that. I’m actually the one that called the police.”

  “You didn’t tell me that before,” I said.

  “Figured I stood less of a chance of you killing me over it if I was surrounded by other people,” she said.

  “I wouldn’t have killed you over it,” I said.

  “Then you work very differently from my brother and his club,” she said.

  “Wait, so they’ve killed before?” Rock asked.

  “Yes. They have. Some took. Some didn’t,” she said.

  “How do you know all this?” Mick asked.

  “My brother can’t keep his damn mouth shut. You guys have to understand, The Black Saddles don’t work the way you guys do. They’re loud and proud and have no issues boasting of the things they try to
do. That night, when your buddy Knox here was kicking the crap out of Blaze, that was when my brother’s gears started to turn. He was creeping around the edge of the woods, watching everything that was happening. And when you guys ran away, I saw-”

  We all stared at Everly as her eyes lined with tears. She shook her head and looked away, her hands balled up into fists. I watched Grave reach out for her, taking her hand within his and trying to comfort her.

  It was weird. Seeing our burly Grave so weak for a woman.

  “You’re good here,” Grave said. “Safe. What happened?”

  “I saw him kill Blaze. In front of everyone. Just… a knife to the back. Easy as pie. He didn’t hesitate and he didn’t pause. It happened and everyone was freaking out and he kept saying ‘we’ll pin in it on him. We’ll pin it on him.’.”

  “You saw your brother kill Blaze,” Diesel said.

  “Yeah. Haven’t been able to sleep well since,” she said with a snicker.

  I watched Grave squeeze her hand as she turned her watery gaze to him.

  “Thank you for coming to talk with us,” he said.

  All of us furrowed our brows as we watched the interaction.

  “Yeah. It’s fine,” Everly said.

  “You guys know what this means,” Diesel said.

  “Can we discuss this after she’s gone?” Grave asked.

  “Why the hell are you so concerned about what she feels?” Mick asked.

  “Because she was brave enough to hop on the back of a bike of a rival gang and come talk to us without anyone with her. That’s why,” Grave said.

  He was almost snarling at Mick.

  “What does this mean?” Everly asked.

  “It means we’re at war with The Black Saddles,” I said.

  “Knox,” Diesel said.

  “What? She’s gonna find out anyway,” I said.

  “War?” she asked.

  “In our world, what your brother tried to do is the equivalent of terrorism on foreign soil. He committed a heinous crime on our turf then tried to take us down with it,” Diesel said.

  “We can’t let that stand. Redding’s in trouble with people like that in town,” Brewer said.

  “Should I be like… leaving, or something?” Everly asked.

  “No,” Grave said quickly. “I mean, no one will be harmed. No one’s dropping bombs or sending in military guys. But we do have to clean this up.”

  I watched Everly nod as Grave finally dropped her hand.

  “We’ll hold church in a while to figure out what our next move is,” Diesel said. “In the meantime, get Everly back to wherever she needs to be.”

  “I can take her back,” Grave said.

  “Her car’s at my place. I’ve got it,” I said.

  My phone started vibrating in my pocket and I pulled it out. I saw Monroe was calling and I looked around at the guys. I turned the phone to Diesel and he nodded his head, shooing me off with his hand so I could take the call.

  “Monroe. You good?” I asked.

  “Knox. We need to meet up. And soon,” she said.

  “Why? What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “I’m not talking about any of it over the phone. Can you come over to my place?” she asked.

  “I’m on my way,” I said. “I’m about thirty minutes out though.”

  “Perfect. I’ll meet you there. Come in when you get here. The door will be unlocked.”

  Chapter 28

  Monroe

  I was sitting on the porch of my apartment sipping on a glass of wine. The day had been long and it seemed as if the weeks were only going to get longer. I watched the sun set in the sky as my lips wrapped around the edge of the glass, my body trying to relax itself. I kept replaying the events of the day in my head. Everything I had done to try and secure information and everything I had done to try and convince myself Knox hadn’t been a part of any of this.

  And once I had that proof, it made me sick that I could’ve doubted him in the first place.

  I set my wine glass in my lap as the door of my apartment opened. I braced myself for whatever was coming. Whatever anger or sadness or upset was coming my way. Knox had sounded tense on the phone. And I knew he was out in the desert. The wind had been whipping around on the phone call which meant he’d probably been with the guys.

  Doing something he probably didn’t need to be doing.

  “Monroe?”

  His voice fluttered over me as he stepped out onto the porch. I had a beer waiting for him, uncapped and ready to be drank. He sat down beside me and picked it up, his eyes watching me rhythmically sip on my drink.

  I had so much to tell him.

  “What’s wrong?” Knox asked.

  “Nothing. And everything,” I said with a snicker.

  “Why don’t you start at the beginning?” he asked.

  “I flirted with the evidence locker officer to get a glimpse at Blaze’s evidence box.”

  I felt his eyes harden on the side of my face.

  “Uh huh,” he said.

  “There was a knife. At the bottom. A knife we’d never seen. Never processed. It was covered in blood and an exact match to the wound found in Blaze’s back.”

  “So, the murder weapon was in there,” he said.

  “The box hadn’t been sealed yet. It was just sitting there. Waiting for anyone to stick their hands in it. I took pictures of everything and went back to tell Rose, but then she told me I had to go flirt with a judge to get a warrant for the evidence box.”

  “Sounds like you made a lot of men’s days today.”

  “Yeah. Well, I didn’t flirt with the judge. I met up with Diego instead.”

  “What?” he asked, his voice hardening.

  “I was straight up with him. I told him the RICO case was pending and even though it didn’t look like people were coming into town, I was now having to try and figure out what they had that was making them build their case.”

  “What did you tell him, Monroe?”

  “Rose is under the impression that the assistant U.S. attorney has someone on the inside, Knox. Someone talking to them and ratting you guys out.”

  I looked over at him and watched him tense as anger barreled over his features.

  “Rose said that.”

  “Yes,” I said. “And if that’s the case, then the government probably has some serious stuff on you.”

  “Did you tell Diego that?” he asked.

  “No. What I told him was that the only way they could build this kind of case this quickly was if someone was feeding them something. I didn’t go into specifics. Diego asked me why I called the meeting and I told him that the more connections I could fry between you guys and the police, the better. He helped me secure the warrant I needed from the judge in exchange for keeping him in the loop on things regarding the RICO case.”

  I watched Knox nod as he brought his beer to his lips.

  “Anyway, we got the box. The knife was still there. We tested the blood and it’s an exact match to Blaze. But the fingerprints were too smudged to make a formal I.D. on anyone. So there still isn’t a connection as to who was wielding the knife.”

  “I think I can help there, but you keep on going,” he said.

  “I don’t know why, but I get the feeling that Blaze’s murder and this RICO case aren’t actually connected. I think the assistant U.S. attorney saw an opportunity with you in jail and tried to leverage it. What I think is that they’ve been trying to build this case for a long time, and they stumbled on something from whoever is talking to them that gives them solid footing. I think you being in jail was an exploitation. Not the start of this.”

  “I agree with you,” he said.

  “You going to tell me why?” I asked.

  “Because Rex’s sister came forward and said she was the one who saw her brother kill Blaze.”

  My wine glass tumbled to the concrete as I whipped my head over to Knox.

  “You make a habit of breaking those, you know?” h
e asked.

  “What happened now?” I asked.

  “Rex, one of the guys I mentioned to you at the bonfire? His sister was there. Everly. She saw the whole thing go down and says it was Rex who killed Blaze. She heard him talking about how it was his idea to pin it on me.”

  “Knox. When the hell were you going to call me with this?”

  “When you called, I was only finding out about it then. This is news to me, too.”

  “That’s huge. We can use her testimony.”

  “But the case was dropped.”

  “Not… not for that case,” I said. “Other cases. It’s a long story, but this knife can tie things up with other cases. Knox, that knife has been involved in other murders and attempted murders against your club for years. Two, to be exact. That same knife with those same dimensions and that same serrated blade.”

  I watched fire boil in Knox’s eyes as he slammed back the rest of his beer.

  “I gotta go,” he said.

  “Wait, please. I’m not done,” I said.

  “You just told me some asshole Black Saddle’s been killing us off and you think I can stay?”

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  Knox’s eyes fell hard onto mine as I drew in a deep breath.

  “The hell you apologizing for?” he asked.

  “I had doubts about you. Even after I told you how I felt, I was somehow convinced you were involved in all this. That you were capable of something like this. And I was so wrong, and I’m so sorry.”

  “I didn’t expect anything different from you.”

  “But you should’ve. Because I love you, Knox.”

  “I love you, too. Don’t mean we’re perfect.”

  “I want to make things work.”

  “Were we not trying to do that?” he asked as he reached out for my hands.

  “I don’t-... I don’t know,” I said.

  “I was trying to make things work.”

  “You were?”

  “Uh. Yeah?”

  I snickered and shook my head as I stood to my feet.

  “Why does it feel like I haven’t seen you in two months?” I asked.

  “Because today’s been a long fucking day for the both of us?” Knox asked.

  “Do you have to leave now?”