Page 87 of Has-Been
I let out a frustrated growl.
“Can you shut it and listen? The othermore importantfucking fact is that she said he took a call while he was with her, and that call was probably what stopped him from doing more to her. That means I owe the caller a huge fucking thank you. So thanks, Pres, you saved my girl right then.”
Reacher suddenly sat up and lunged out, catching my arm with a tight grip.
“I did what? I called this fucker?”
Stitch kept glancing past me, checking on his sister, and I followed his gaze, to catch her watching us. Had Reacher woken her?
“You okay, babe? Need anything?”
She shook her head. “I’m fine. Did you tell them?”
“He told us, sweets. Don’t worry about a thing, we’ll figure out which member of this club needs to die.”
She gasped, sitting up in bed. “You can’t! You have to let the police take him. This isn’t the damn wild west!”
I grinned, shrugging at Stitch as he stood up, and crossed the room to his sister. I decided to leave them in peace, and turned back to Reacher, who was scrolling through his phone.
“Pres?”
He kept scrolling. “See, over the last couple of days, I’ve called so many fucking brothers. Not all because they were off site, but because they were in their rooms, or whatever. Jesus. I mean, even if we rule out the ones we trust-”
“Don’t.”
He lifted his head then, those sharp eyes meeting mine.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t trust anyone, Pres. The only ones we can be sure of are in this room right now. I don’t want to think that any of my brothers could do this, least of all the ones I’m closest to, but I think we’re trying so hard to trust the ones we know best, that we’re potentially overlooking the one person who could do the most damage to us. He took Elise because she’s the VP’s sister, as well as my old lady. He knew it’d fuck us up more than any other old lady, no offence.”
“We need to trust Ice, because he’s the only one who can look closer at everyone. If we suspect him, then we’re really on our own.”
I clenched my fists, hating myself for my next words.
“Then we’re on our own, Pres.”
Fifty-Four
AftermybrotherandReacher left the room, Has came back to bed, hesitating for a moment before he dragged me into his arms, and I snuggled into his warm chest.
“What happens next?”
Has sighed, stroking his fingers through my hair in smooth glides.
“Babe, I have no fucking clue. Reacher has rung a lot of us in the last two days, so it narrows things down but not enough. And the tatted dick… I mean, yeah, there are only a few I know of in this club, but anyone could have added ink and never told us. Short of getting everyone to whip them out for you to look at-”
I shuddered, rubbing my face against Has’ bare chest as I shook my head rapidly.
“Hey… I’d never ask you to do that, don’t worry. There’s always another way, and we’ll find it.”
“What if it’s the only way, though? Shouldn’t I just be brave? Shouldn’t I be able to just do it? I hate how weak I’ve become.”
Has let out a soft curse, waiting until I lifted my head before he spoke again, his fingers catching my chin in a light grip.
“There’s nothing weak about you, Elise. Not a damn thing. You’ve been snatched by this fucker twice, and that’s two times too many. You’ve been trapped with him, and afraid for your life. Being affected by that shit doesn’t make you weak, does it? Would you look down on you if you were anyone else, or would you look at you and see a fucking fighter?”
His words were the right words, and we both knew it, but I couldn’t help feeling like I’d failed somewhere along the way. If I’d been stronger, he wouldn’t have been able to take me twice. If I’d been smarter. If I’d kept my wits about me, and made better decisions. There was also the fact that once more I was nearly forced into something that I’d never done with anyone else before.
