Page 56 of Crow's Haven
“You sure you want to do this alone?” Siege asks.
I give him a swift chin jerk. “Yeah, Sharon’s my old lady. If anyone’s gonna get the cops called on them, it should be me. Plus, if we all roll into her driveway, she might panic. If it’s just me, she might at least talk to me.”
He nods firmly. “It’s your old lady and therefore your call.”
I swing off my bike and walk the hundred yards or so to her house, boots hitting the pavement with a thud as I walk. I ain’t leaving without answers. I knock, already knowing I won’t take no for an answer.
A woman who looks very much like my Ladybug answers the door. Her expression turns wary the second she catches sight of me. “Hello, what can I do for you today?”
“Are you Sharon Jackson?”
“It’s Ronnie, not Sharon. Can I help you?” She won’t meet my eyes and looks shifty as hell. She also looks scared.
I exhale slowly, steadying my voice even though my pulse is hammering through my veins. “My name’s Crow. I think you know exactly why I’m here.”
There’s a long pause as she stares into my eyes, her guarded silence speaking volumes. She finally replies quietly, polite but tinged with suspicion. “What do you want? She’s not here, I don’t know where she is.”
“Sharon’s safety,” I say, no hesitation. “That’s it. I don’t want to scare her or cause trouble. I just want to help.”
She hesitates, her voice careful and neutral. “She doesn’t need help, especially not from the guy who treated her like shit.”
“Respectfully,” I cut in, stepping closer just a hair, “she’s running from a murder warrant. She needs all the help she can get.”
Her eyes flash. “She’s innocent.”
“I believe that,” I say, meaning every word. “And I wish I’d been more supportive when I learned what happened.”
Another tense silence stretches out. She softens slightly, still wary. “Why should I trust you? You’re an outlaw biker. Why would I risk trusting you?”
“We ain’t outlaws, ma’am,” I say, forcing myself to stay calm. “The Legion protects family. Sharon is family to us now because she’s my old lady. I know she’s scared and I’m at least partially to blame for that. That’s on me. But she deserves better than living on the run.”
She exhales quietly, frustration and conflict in her face. “Even if that’s true, she might not see it that way. Let me talk to her first.”
“Of course,” I say, jerking my chin towards Siege and Rigs to signal we’re good. “Talk to her. Tell her we’ll keep her safe. Tell her she has options beyond running. We’ve got a club attorney, he’s good. Maybe together we can figure out how to get her outta this mess.”
She sighs heavily, clearly torn. “Fine. Wait here. I’ll call her. Your friends can wait on the porch.”
I motion for Siege and the others to come up while she lifts her phone and moves aside to dial. Before she can pull up her cousin’s contact information, her phone rings. She answers, her voice impatient. “I don’t have time right now, Cassie. I’m in the middle of something.”
I edge a little closer, straining to hear. Her face goes ghostly white. Then she hits speaker.
“I’m not sure I caught that. Can you repeat it?”
“I said that your cousin is in big trouble,” the voice on the other end of the line says.
“What do you mean by that?”
Cassie’s voice comes through softer than I expect. “Ronnie… I just found out I’m pregnant.”
“Oh my God, congratulations! That’s amazing news,” Ronnie says.
Cassie’s tone hardens. “Thanks. But it changes everything.”
I move in another step, tension twisting in my gut. Ronnie looks confused. “What do you mean? How does being pregnant affect protecting my cousin?”
Cassie sighs, unsteady. “Look, I was happy to help you because I liked Sharon. But now things are different. Carrying a life makes you see what’s at stake. I can’t keep protecting someone accused of killing a child. Helping her makes me complicit. What if she’s not innocent?”
My fists clench, fury flaring hotter than before. But I stay silent.
