Page 96 of Vengeance

“I think I’m gonna sleep here,” Gunner says. “I should go home. And I want to go home, but I don’t think I can stay awake now that the sun’s rising.”

“Not to mention all adrenaline is gone. I think you drove to the clubhouse on autopilot,” Beckett says with a laugh.

They walk into the clubhouse, and he freezes in his tracks. Psycho and Jennings talk in hushed tones by the office while a brunette in jeans and a dirty white tank top eats a cheeseburger at the bar. A brunette he’d recognize anywhere even though she’s about five years older than when he last saw her.

“Shannon Walters?”

Whipping around, she looks with wide eyes before dropping the cheeseburger on the wrapper. “Beckett?”

He drops the bag of ammo to the ground and takes a step forward. “What are you doing here?”

“You know her?” Psycho asks.

“Yeah, I know her,” he says and walks closer to her, stopping a few feet away from her.

His eyes rake over her, still in shock, and he takes in her dirty skin and hair. She looks like she hasn’t had a decent meal in a while, but she still has the biggest brown eyes he’s ever seen on someone.

“You’re in a motorcycle club now?” she asks, her eyes still wide, but her body relaxes.

“How do you know her?” Jennings asks.

“We used to be neighbors,” Beckett says. And that’s all you need to know.

Shannon looks down at herself. “I’m such a mess-”

“Stop it,” he interrupts her. “What are you doing here, Shannon?”

“Psycho saved me.”

His eyes shoot to the Black Valley President. “Where? What happened?”

“She was lured in by a sexual predator, and I happened to stumble upon it,” Psycho says. “As in, I went to take care of the guy, and she surprised me by being locked up with him.”

“What?” His entire body vibrates with rage. “Did he-”

“No,” she says quickly. “He was about to, but then this scary guy broke a window and slid into the room before anything could happen.”

Shaking his head, he lets out a breath. “How’d he lure you in?”

Shame. It’s clear to anyone around that she feels shame, and her words break his heart. “He offered to buy me a meal. A real meal, and I was desperate.”

“I don’t understand...”

“Mom and Dad died when you were overseas, and I bounced around in foster care for the last three years of my childhood. Once I graduated and turned eighteen, I was on my own. Turns out, I don’t have a wide range of life skills to get me by, and I’ve been struggling.”

“I didn’t know about your parents. I’m so sorry.”

Her eyes look at the ground, and she shrugs. “Thanks.”

“She saved my ass,” Psycho says. “She’s quick on her feet. When I found him with someone, there were two scenarios that could play out. She could run and turn me in, which would fuck us all, or she could help. And she helped.”

“He said he wasn’t going to hurt me, and I just had to promise that I never saw him. So I never saw him,” Shannon says and smiles.

Psycho laughs. “But then a cop showed up snooping around, and she said she pulled over to call someone. I bet he told you that you were smart not to drive and talk on the phone, and then she drove the pickup away to lead the cop from the house. But when I saw her drive away, I thought I was for sure fucked.”

“I’m also lucky the guy never ran the plates because Psycho says he stole the vehicle,” Shannon says with a laugh. “It pays to be a damsel in distress sometimes, I suppose.”

“She helped me get cleaned up, and I promised her food. I didn’t know where else to bring her, so I brought her here to at least get a good night’s sleep. I had no idea she knew you.”

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