“Not a word,” I said, miming zipping my lips. “Take the pills and rest up. When I check on you later, I’ll let you know if it’s okay for you to be brought to the rec room.”
Leaving Booker to his thoughts, I went to find Grimm. The rooms were scarcer than I was used to. Normally, a few guys were loitering around, but other than the hangarounds, the clubhouse was quiet. Too quiet. I checked his office in the back but came up empty.
“Cass, have you seen Grimm?” I asked. “Where’s everybody gone to?”
“Umm, he had some business to take care of,” he answered, but he couldn’t keep my gaze. The two women he sat with looked just as uncomfortable as he did and didn’t even call to me as usual.
“What kind of business?”
“Nothing serious,” he replied, laughing, but his voice broke. He was a horrible liar. “Why don’t you sit with us? We were just playing kill, smash, marry about the bikers. We know who you’d marry. Who’d you smash, and who would you kill?”
“You’re trying to distract me.” I cocked my head, frowning at him and the two women, who still refused to look at me. “But why? What’s going on?”
“Grimm just wants you to stay here for a bit,” Cass answered. “He said he’d drop by to pick you up when it’s safe to go back to the house.”
“Safe? Why? What’s going on at the house?”
“N-nothing.”
“You’re a terrible liar, Cass,” I told him, already backing out of the room, ignoring Cass’s call for me to stay.
If the clubhouse was this empty, something really bad must have happened. I sprinted outside but halted at the foot of the steps when I saw the two police cars parked at the front of the house. All sorts of thoughts ran through my mind. My legs buckled. Fear and anxiety left me crippled. I was unable to take another step until I was certain I could cross the expanse of ground and get to Grimm.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Grimm
I’d known it was only a matter of time before Mason Dehaney would show up at my doorstep, though I never anticipated it being so soon. When Zak had come knocking on my office door and informed me two police cars wanted entrance onto our compound, I’d had only a minute to decide the best course of action to take. I could refuse and make things harder for us until they returned with a warrant, or I could be cooperative and hoped the chief was here to discuss my relationship with his son.
Trying to spare Jamie any problems with the interaction, I’d instructed Cass to keep him at the clubhouse while I spoke to Dehaney at the house. With Booker still holed up in bed, I didn’t want them anywhere near the clubhouse and asking questions. Dehaney had appeared with another police officer I recognized but didn’t know by name. Given their body language, I figured he was the guy Jamie had caught Dehaney nailing.
At least the chief had blown that cover all on his own without my help. I always knew he was anything but straight, but he was buried deeper in the closet than I had been before I got kicked out of the Bloodlet club.
“What can I do for you gentlemen?” I asked, ignoring his partner, who decided to remain standing just inside the kitchen. Dehaney sat across from me at the table, and for a second, the loathing I sensed in him for me gave me pause.
It hadn’t always been this way between us. Way back in the days, we had been on the same side, but if there was one thing I had learned, it was that men changed more quickly than the seasons.
“Where were you Wednesday night?” Dehaney asked calmly.
I leaned back in my chair, refusing to answer his question. “Why? What did you hear?”
“Don’t make this difficult, Buckley,” he replied, resting his arms on the table. “You know damn well why I am here.”
“Can’t say that I do.”
“You can make this as difficult as you want to. We know you were behind the murders.”
Genuinely confused, I frowned at him. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, and you better not try to pin shit on me either.”
“But I hardly need to pin anything on you, do I, Grimm? All I need is to dig into your background a little, and I’m sure quite a few skeletons will tumble right out of the closet.”
I held his gaze, refusing to back down. “Interesting thing talking about closets, don’t you think, Dehaney?”
“You know what I find interesting? Two nights ago, there was a shootout at the Hi-Lo grocery store. While the clerk insisted he didn’t know who was involved, the footage inside the store places you at the scene of the crime. I’m sure if we test the blood sample we found outside, it would match one of your men’s.”
“The constitution gives us the right to arm and protect ourselves,” I answered, unperturbed by his question. The video he reported held no evidence whatsoever. The footage might have shown us inside the supermarket, but there was no camera outside to prove what really happened. In fact, the video he mentioned would have disappeared from their evidence room already. A place like Smoky Vale didn’t have two rivalry biker clubs without a dirty cop or two on their payroll.
“True,” he responded. “But does it give you the right to torture and kill two men?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t kill anybody.”
“Then where were you last night?”
“He was with me!”
All pairs of eyes swung to the entrance of the kitchen, where Jamie appeared. He stopped and surveyed the room, nodding at the police officer who had yet to speak. “Uncle Ben.”
“Jamie, you shouldn’t be here,” the man responded, glancing between Jamie and Dehaney, who had gone rigid at his son’s entrance. “Why don’t you come back after we’re through?”
Jamie moved forward and came around the table to stand by me. He placed his hand on my shoulder. I felt the tremor in him, sensed his unease, and I had to agree with this Uncle Ben character that Jamie didn’t belong here.
“Go to our bedroom,” I told him, ignoring Dehaney’s sharp intake of breath. “I’ll come get you when we’re through here.”
“But I can help,” Jamie replied and didn’t budge. He addressed his father. “You want to know where he was? In my bed.”
“That’s enough!” Dehaney snapped at him. “This is a police matter that doesn’t involve you.”
“But it does involve me if you’re trying to pin some phony crime on Grimm just because he’s sleeping with your son,” Jamie responded. “That wouldn’t look good on your résumé, Dad.”
“Are you trying to threaten me, son?” Dehaney spat, rising to his feet.
I gripped Jamie’s waist and turned him to face me. “Look, I don’t need you to fight my battles for me. I can handle this. Do what I said and go upstairs now.”
He trembled beneath my touch. I squeezed lightly and relaxed my expression so he could see I had this covered. I didn’t need him to choose between his father and me. That wasn’t a decision I wanted him to ever make, but sooner or later, he might have to. I would rather it be later.
“Okay,” he murmured, not looking too happy about the situation, but he at least made to move away.
Dehaney blocked his path. “No, on second thought, you should stay,” he remarked. “After all, this does concern you since you were caught on camera as well in the supermarket with Grimm before the shooting occurred. Want to tell us what happened? Maybe we should take you in for questioning.”
I surged to my feet in anger. “Leave him out of this!”
“I’m just doing my job. Did you think I was going to be easy on him because he’s my son?”
“He has nothing to do with this.”
“On the contrary.” He dug into his back pocket and waved two photographs under Jamie’s nose. “Take a good look. That’s a picture of the two dead men we found with cuts and stab wounds all over their bodies. Take a damn long look, Jamie, at what your man is responsible for. How does it feel knowing you’re sleeping with a fucking monster who could do this to someone?”
He co
uldn’t avoid the photographs of the two mutilated bodies that his father held in front of him. The cuts and other wounds were familiar, but there was no reason these two men should have been dead. When we’d left them, they had been alive.
Jamie grabbed hold of my arm, and I held on to him in case he fainted, but he didn’t.
“That’s enough, Dehaney!” I snapped at him, pulling Jamie toward me. He buried his face into my chest and wrapped his arms around me as shudders ran through him.
“I’m just beginning,” Dehaney responded. “You had these men killed last night, and we’re going to get you for these murders. I hope your love is strong enough to last you being behind bars. A little note, by the way, is that we don’t allow conjugal visits.”
Jamie struggled against me, and I released him. “I told you he was with me,” he lied on my behalf as he approached his father, shoulders squared. “He was with me all night. How can he be responsible for that when we were busy having sex? Or do you want me to run through all the positions we tried out, though my time frame may be a little skewed, given I was too occupied to notice specifically at what time we would have changed from one to another.”
Crack!
Jamie’s head shot sideways under the impact of Dehaney’s hand across his cheek. He gasped, and his hand flew up and covered the area his father had slapped him.
Silence filled the kitchen. I started to count. One… Two… Three. But then tears welled up in Jamie’s eyes. They spilled over, and rage surged through me that someone as physically big as Dehaney would dare to put his hand on Jamie.
In that moment, it ceased to matter that he was Jamie’s father. That he used to be my friend. My brother.
“You son of a bitch!” I punched him in the face, holding nothing back. The other officer rushed to me and blocked my fist inches from connecting again with his chief’s face. Dehaney touched his hand to his nose; it came away with blood. “You put another hand on him, and I’ll lay you out.”
“He’s my son!”
“That gives you no right to hit him in the face!” I shouted at him. His response only riled me up more. “That’s fucking low, even for you.”
Jamie touched my arm, and it was more effective than the police officer, who tried to restrain me.
“It’s okay,” he said, his voice so soft I ached inside for him at the position he was being forced into. “I’m not afraid of him.” He shifted his attention from me to his father. “You’re nothing but a bully and a hypocrite. Grimm’s money was good enough for you to take and send me to med school, but he’s not good enough for me to be with? How does it feel to know you took money from someone you believe is a monster, hmm?”
I was as stunned as Dehaney at Jamie’s words. “We made a deal never to tell him,” he gritted out between his teeth. “Of course, I should have known not to make a deal with the devil.”
“You did what?” his partner asked. “Are you insane? Do you know what will happen if the force finds out you’ve accepted money from him regardless if it was a good cause or not?”
“I didn’t tell him anything,” I replied. “Say what you want about me, Dehaney, but I’m no goddamn traitor. I did not tell him.”
“Did you think you could hide it from me forever?” Jamie demanded. “You told me you got sponsorship from the police force and that’s how you were able to afford my fees.”
“It was his damn idea!” Dehaney replied. “He was the one who approached me and offered me the money to send you to med school and away from him.”
“This is getting way too personal,” Ben stated, eyeing me. “We came here to talk about the dead bodies we suspect were your doing.”
“I already told you I didn’t kill anyone,” I insisted.
The two men had been alive when we dumped them in an alley downtown. We had hurt them bad, but their wounds should have healed over time. We had kept them alive to let their leaders know that we were not going to rest until we found out who they were.
“Then you wouldn’t mind coming down to the police station with us for a formal interrogation, would you?” Dehaney asked. “Of course, we can just get you there by charging you with the assault of a police officer.”
“Now that’s not fair,” Jamie protested, his eyes going wild with panic. “He only interfered because you assaulted me.”
Dehaney, the bastard, ignored his son’s plea and brought out his handcuffs. I didn’t so much as flinch as he came around my back.
“What exactly are you detaining me for?” I asked without resisting lest he trumped that charge up against me too.
“For questions related to the deaths of Alex Whittaker and Carlos Mendez,” he answered, snapping the cuff around one wrist. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything—”
“You can’t do this!” Jamie protested. “Dad, please. You know this isn’t right.”
“What’s not right is you trying to protect a criminal, which is also an offense!”
“Leave him out of this,” I spat at Dehaney and fixed my eyes on Jamie. “Baby, listen to me. I don’t want you to get yourself all worked up. It will be okay, you’ll see. Now, if you truly do want to help, find Booker. He’ll give you the name of my attorney. Have the attorney meet us at the police station. Can you do that for me?”
Jamie bit his lip and nodded, his beautiful brown eyes shiny with tears again. His face was so pale I worried he would faint, and I would not be around to take care of him.
“Hey,” I called to him. “I need you to be strong for me. Can you do that?”
He blinked away the tears and nodded, squaring his shoulders. “We’ll get you out of there,” he promised me. “Don’t worry about me.”
But how could I not worry? A maniac was on the loose who was trying to get to him, and if I was in jail, I couldn’t see to his safety firsthand.
“Anything happens to him while you’re on this crazy witch hunt, Dehaney,” I told his father, staring the man in the eyes, “I swear, I’ll make you pay bitterly for it.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jamie
“Honey, you look a hot mess. Are you okay?”
I forced a smile at Libby, but seeing the concern in her eyes only made mine fill with tears. I desperately blinked them away. The last thing I wanted was for her to think of me as unprofessional at my job, but I was hanging on by a thread.
Grimm had now been detained for thirty-six hours, and I was going out of my mind with worry. They hadn’t allowed me to see him, even when I had shown up at the police station with his lawyer.
Dad had been livid that I had dared to show my face at his workplace, ignoring me the whole time I was there. I hadn’t gotten a glimpse of Grimm, although his lawyer had assured me he was fine. The man had even played me a voice recording on his phone from Grimm that he was okay and not to worry.
Our bed felt empty without him, even with all my shit that I’d packed up at home and carried back with me to his house. I hadn’t been in a mood to unpack; I just dumped my suitcases and everything I deemed to be of value onto the floor in his bedroom.
After what my father did, I was through with him. The scathing voicemail he had left on my phone after I’d ignored his calls was enough for me to know he felt the same. As long as Grimm was a part of my life, he believed I was under threat, and he didn’t want me around if I refused to acknowledge that fact and move on.
That was fine as I had nothing more to say to him. Hitting me, especially in front of my man, was bad enough. Him arresting Grimm without even charging him was spiteful and had nothing to do with those two men killed.
Grimm insisted he hadn’t killed anyone, and I believed him. I had no idea what had happened that night, but better those two men than me in any event. Had they accomplished their task, we would all be dead.
“I’m fine,” I answered Libby, unclipping the pulse ox I had on her finger to measure her oxygen saturation level. “Have you been taking your pills during my absence? Your blood level reading is really
good. I’m proud of you.”
“I wouldn’t want to disappoint you now, Doc,” she said. Then before I could move on, her bony hand encircled my wrist. “Why don’t you get off your feet for a minute and take a seat? I don’t think I like the looks of you today.”
The chair looked inviting. It had taken forever for me to fall asleep last night. I’d planned to skip lunch and nap instead.
“I really shouldn’t,” I said on a sigh, thinking about all the tasks I had left to accomplish.
“You will. You look dead tired on your feet. Go ahead. Just sit for a minute and catch your breath. You’re about to topple over, and as slender as you are, darling, I don’t think my old bones would be able to pick you up from the floor.”
I smiled wanly at her and claimed the chair she indicated. I sank into the uncomfortable seat, just grateful to be off my feet. I still had nine hours left to work today at the hospital. Could I manage it with my current energy level? I doubted it. It couldn’t hurt to rest my back and my legs for a couple of minutes at least. I could take the time out of my breaks.
“Now close your eyes and just forget about whatever is stressing you out so much,” she instructed.
How could I forget about Grimm spending another night in jail? His lawyer was working on getting him released as soon as possible, but he had explained it was difficult, given the tape Dad professed to have. Apparently, Grimm could be detained for seventy-two hours before being released since they hadn’t charged him officially with a crime.
One minute I was thinking about Grimm’s detainment, and the next someone shook my shoulder.
“Intern Dehaney, are you sleeping on the job?”
Oh no.
I sprang up from the chair and tried to formulate a proper response, but my tongue was still asleep, and I couldn’t clear the cobwebs from my brain fast enough. Dr. Collier frowned at me, the lines in the center of his handsome face deeper than usual.
Biker Daddy (The Grimm Tales of Smoky Vale Book 1) Page 22