Beautiful Outlaw by Emily Minton

Game Over

Bowie

As soon as I step out the door, Tin is by my side.  Looking down at Shay, he asks, “Is she okay?”

Shaking my head, I walk toward Marcus’s car, trying to control the fury building inside me.  “I need you to get her to the hospital.  Stay with her until I get done here.”

Tin looks at me then back to the house.  Before turning back to me, he asks, “I can stay here and help Lock clean up the mess.  You need to go with Shay.”

He’s wrong.  I want to be with Shay, but I need to finish this shit first.  I shake my head again, not willing to argue with him.  “No, I want you to do what I tell you and not ask any fuckin’ questions.”

“Fuck, Bowie.  You wearing the President patch doesn’t change anything.  You’re still my damn brother. I want to help you.”

I take in a deep breath, trying to control the urge to scream at him to fuckin’ quit questioning my orders.  “By taking her to the hospital, you’re helping me.  I have to get back in there and question that motherfucker. I have to do this myself.”

His eyes grow with the realization that I haven’t killed Marcus yet. “He’s not dead?”

“No, I have to make sure that this shit ends here.  If he dies without telling me everything, I won’t know if he has hired someone else to come after her.  You know how this shit goes.  The motherfucker being dead doesn’t necessarily end our troubles.”

“Fuck,” he mutters, finally realizing that taking out the key players does not mean that the game is over. 

Using one arm to hold Shay, I use the other to dig through my pocket and pull out the keys I took off Marcus the moment I shot his ass in the knees.  Tossing Tin the keys, I finish walking to the car.  After motioning for him to open the door, he steps in front of me and clicks unlock on the keys.  A second later, he has the back door open and steps aside for me to put her inside. 

I lean inside and place her into the backseat as gently as I can.  She lets out a soft moan as I pull my arms away from her.  Her eyes flutter open, and she whispers, “I love you.”

Bringing my lips to hers, I whisper the words back, words I’ve never said to a woman before.  “I love you too.”

When I pull back, I see her eyes are closed.  I give her another kiss before climbing from the car.  After shutting the door, I turn to look at Tin.  “Call me when you get her to the hospital.”

“You know I’m gonna get asked questions. What do you want to me to tell them?”

“Tell them you found her lying at the bottom of the stairs, nothing else,” I say, knowing the simpler the story the more likely it is to be believed. 

“They ain’t gonna believe that shit,” he says with a shake of his head.  “Rollo just took Tag in, now me coming with her...  They’re gonna know it has something to do with the club.”

He’s right, but I don’t really give a fuck. “Take your cut off before you walk in.  If they still make a connection and ask you questions, you know what to do.”

“Keep my fuckin’ mouth shut,” he replies with a nod.

“Exactly,” I say as I take one last look at Shay then turn toward the house.  “Get her out of here, Tin.”

Not waiting for him to do what he’s told, I walk away.  The engine starts as I step onto the porch, but I don’t look back.  Throwing the door open, I stomp through the house.  Hesitating as I step over Domino’s body, my mind begins to wonder who killed her before I realize that I don’t give a fuck and keep on walking. 

Lock’s voice reaches my ears as I start down the steps.  “What the hell did you do to her?”

“I’m not telling you anything.  You took Laura from me. She was perfect, nothing like the others,” Marcus shouts.  “She was the perfect wife, my perfect angel.”

“Answer my fuckin’ question,” Lock barks out, sending a kick into the man’s side. 

A hiss of pain leaves the bastard’s lips before he can respond.  “I tried with them, but they wouldn’t listen.  Laura listened. She did everything I said.”

I watch as Lock leans down and grabs the front of his shirt.  “Tell me what you did to Heather?”

Walking over to them, I push him off the bastard.  “What the fuck are you two talking about?”

Lock steps back, fisting his hands at his side.  “I did a little research.  This bastard has had six wives before my sister, five of which are dead.”

Shock rushes through me as the implication worms its way into my brain. Shay could’ve been next.  “You’re fuckin’ kidding me, right?”

“The first four are buried, but the body of the last one was never found.  She had only been married to him for nine months before she went missing,” he explains, staring down at Marcus.  “Her family thinks she ran away, but this bastard somehow had her declared dead.”

I look down to Marcus and shake my head.  “That’s fucked up, brother, but it has nothing to do with today.”

“No,” Lock agrees. “But I want some answers out of him before he dies. Her family deserves to know what happened to her.”

“We don’t have time for you to play cop.  As soon as Shay gets to the hospital, the boys in blue are gonna be asking questions.  We need to get this shit done and cleaned up before they come knocking on my door.” I also got to get some shit moved to cover the door. Can’t let the cops see it, but I don’t tell him that.

“Just give me a few minutes with him,” Lock asks.  “She’s not much older than Laura. Her family has been looking for her for more than ten years. I need to give them some closure.”

I may be a cold bastard, but right now, I have too much shit to deal with.  A woman that’s probably been dead for a decade isn’t at the top of my list of priorities. Looking into his determined eyes, I take a step back.  “This doesn’t have shit to do with you.  Why the hell do you care so much?”

“I let my sister live with the bastard for years, fuckin’ years.  I knew shit wasn’t right but never stepped in to fix it. I’ll never forgive myself for that shit.  I need to do this, need to find out what happened to Heather. I have to do this for Laura.”

“You’ll never find her.  She’s gone,” Marcus gasps out as he tries to sit up.  “She wasn’t worthy. She wasn’t perfect like Gwendolyn.”

I give him a quick kick, putting him on his back again, and look back at Lock.  “You got five minutes,” I say, wondering if I can hold out that long before I put a bullet in the bastard’s brain.