Page 101 of Property of Bones

“If she has so much as ascratchon her, I’ll kill you slowly, Max. Years of torture.”

“She’s fine,” Max says, glancing at me.

“Abby’s on her way back to you,” I add quickly.

“What?” Jack’s voice cracks. “Why aren’tyou?”

“Because your woman doesn’t know how to keep her damn mouth shut,” Max says, shooting me an accusing look.

“Don’t fucking talk about her,” Jack snaps. “Where is she?”

“We’re in Mexicali,” Max admits. “Abby’s being sent back because Sunny made Muerte a deal. She agreed to stay, to do whatever he demands, if they let Abby go.”

“She didwhat?!” Jack roars.

“They had us in a hole in the ground, Jack,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. “Thesameway Abby was kept for three months last time. I couldn’t let her go through that again. I did what I had to do.”

“FUCK!” Jack roars through the phone.

“I’m going to get her out of here, Bones,” Max says firmly. “I won’t let them touch her.”

“Fuck you, Max. How can I fucking trust you to take care of the woman I love when youbetrayedus?”

“No, he didn’t,” I cut in before Max could speak. “Things happened, but not the way you think. Itrusthim, Jack. Please... trust me.”

“I’ll explain everything,” Max adds. “But first, I need your help to get Sunny out of here.”

He pauses, clearly debating how much to say.

“Tell them the rest,” I prompt, when it’s obvious he’s holding back.

“I’ll handle that part on my own, Sunny,” Max warns quietly. “I told you…I never wanted them dragged into this.”

“We’realreadyinvolved,” another voice cuts in…Spike. “I always felt something was off about how it all went down, Max. We’ll figure out the truth later. But right now, what the hell’s going on?”

“Fuck,” Max mutters, pacing a hand through his hair. “Alright. My mom took out a massive loan with Los Fantasmas. When she was killed, no doubt by them, the debt transferred to me.”

He pauses, jaw clenched.

“That’s why I betrayed you. I needed to pay it off before they killed me and passed the debt to someone else I cared about. Since I had no family, it would have most likely been to the club.”

A heavy silence hangs on the line.

“The only thing I ever gave them was buyer information. That’s it. I never sold out the club. Never gave names. Never gave locations. But that’s not the point right now.”

His voice hardens.

“Once I realized howdeepthis runs…how fucked these people really are…I knew I had to take action. Way worse than we ever thought. I got in close, played the part, and now I’m deeper thanI ever intended to be. But Sunny and Abby? They were never supposed to be part of this.”

He looks at me, the weight of guilt in his eyes.

“Muerte’s got a plan,” Max says, tension tightening his voice. “He wants to lure Spike and the rest of the officers out, kill you all then installmeas the new president of the Shadows while he takes over Palm Springs.”

“What?” someone on the line snaps.

“But that’s not all,” Max continues. “Once I’m in charge, he plans to use the compound as a base for his partner’s business.”

“What kind of business?” Spike asks, voice sharp.

---