Page 47 of Knot a Tie
“You show no remorse?”
I shrug.
He shakes his head. “Very well. I asked you here today to discuss a deal with you. I want Mick Savoy. I want him behind bars so badly, I will do almost anything to get him. Do you understand?”
“What’s this got to do with me?”
“I know you’ve been running with him. I have you on CCTV from a few months ago. Then you all disappear and voila, a few months later, here you are, getting into illegal gang activity and getting yourself shot.”
I groan inwardly. Doctor Mayfair. That bastard.
“I’m willing to look past it all if you help me get Savoy and his crew.”
Blinking, I let that sink in. “How? I burned that bridge yesterday.” I stop talking abruptly, suspiciously, but there is no way I can tell him why, or how. He will have me thrown in jail and the key will magically disappear.
His eyes, the same colour as Rayne’s I note with a pang in my heart, narrow. “Oh? You are no longer associated with the Jets?”
“I never was, just to be transparent. But no, we got into a dust up and well, you know…”
“No, I don’t know. How about you enlighten me.”
Again, it’s a statement. This guy seriously does not take his job lightly. He knows his sway; he knows one word from him and I’m a goner.
“I realised they are a bunch of pricks. End of story.” I shift uncomfortably, wishing I was anywhere but here.
“Hmm, tough. You need to go back. Immunity foryourcrimes if you help me get him.”
Okay, that gives me pause.
Big, fat, juicy pause.
I could stop hiding. I could just go about my life without having to worry about my past catching up with me, I could go to Rayne…
No, I can never go to Rayne. Her father would see me dead before he ever let his girl be with a loser like me.
“Immunity?” I ask to bide my time enough to shove Rayne from my thoughts.
Halstead nods and sits back in his chair. “While you think that over, let’s talk about reason number two, seeing as I have you here.”
“What’s that?” I croak out. I feel it’s not going to be good.
“Your pack, wellex-pack, I suppose it is.”
“What about them?”
“Why did you leave?”
“That’s not really any of your business,” I point out, wishing I could get up and leave. But the carrot he’s dangled is still there, swinging in the wind. I would be a fool to walk away from it.
“It is when I’m considering the St. Stevens pack for my daughter.”
His words make my blood run cold. “Oh?” I practically whimper with the pain that has caused me. Even more than the wound on my side.
“Let me put it bluntly. I want to know if you ever intend to go back to them, because if that is part of your plans, then I can rule out the pack as a contender.”
“Ouch,” I mutter, feeling that punch of words right in my heart. “But you don’t have to worry. I won’t ever go back there. Your precious daughter will be safe from me, and my criminal ways.” Every single word of that sentence squeezes tighter on my lungs until I can barely breathe.
“Good. Good. I will hold you to that. In case you hadn’t gathered, your immunity is contingent on both of these things we have discussed here today. You need to decide now before you leave these offices, and potentially disappear again.
