Page 68 of Torch
I followed him to the door as he started walking, pausing with his palm pressed against the wall.
“Jesus. I have no idea what’s about to happen, babe.”
“What would the old club have done? The club he apparently wishes this still was?”
Torch banged his forehead against the wall too.
“They’d torture and kill him for sure. Maybe that’s what he’s hoping for, so he can say he rebuilt the club the way it should be. Fucking asshole. This shouldn’t be happening. Normally I’d walk into the fucking meetings with him, so him not being there is going to be so fucking weird.”
He left the room a moment later, and I sat back down on the bed, and stared at my phone. I’d had to move shifts around to cover for not being at home, and used the ‘burglary’ of my place as an excuse, but now I really should be getting back into working and even revisit the house. Having left there in such bad circumstances, the idea of returning was freaking me out a little, but that was probably normal, right?
A knock on the door distracted me from my thoughts, and when I answered it, I found Lissa standing there with another woman I vaguely recognised, who re-introduced herself as Cammy. I remembered meeting her at the clinic, but so much had happened that we’d barely interacted.
“I thought you might like some company while they’re all busy with Church,” Lissa said, as Cammy headed for the kitchen and switched the kettle on.
“Oh, actually I-”
“We’re intruding, right? I said to Lissa we should message first. Stitch said it could go on for a while, because of the fact that it’s about Micro.”
I nodded, waving a hand at Lissa when she hesitated. “I was about to say that actually I was wondering what to do with myself. Really I should be getting back home, or back to work, but I think I’m a little nervous about doing that. I have no idea why, but yeah, the last few weeks have been the most intense of my life, and that’s saying something, after what I went through with my ex.”
“Do you need to talk to Lissa alone? I can get lost and do something else with myself if so,” Cammy offered, even as she made coffee for all three of us. I gestured to her to sit down, accepting my coffee with thanks. We doctors were used to having to take in large amounts of caffeine to keep up with our shifts and long hours, so I could drink it all day without issues.
“I guess I just have to bite the bullet, but I’m finding it hard to take that first step. Last night Torch told me to leave, and I just… if Reacher hadn’t stopped me, I think I’d still be dithering in the doorway.”
“He told you to leave?” They both looked horrified, leaning forward in their seats like they wanted to reach out to me.
“You don’t have to tell us,” Lissa said, with a gentle smile, “but if it will help to talk it out, we’re here for you.”
“He’s pretty devastated about Micro, what with them being so close, and he lashed out, I guess. Trashed this room, then told me to leave, but I think it was more about protecting me from him, than it was about wanting me to go.”
Lissa nodded. “These guys are really good people, deep down inside, but dealing with emotions and reacting correctly, or the way society would expect, at least, is difficult for them. They’re far more likely to lash out, or force people out of their lives, than actually just suck it up and deal with what’s happening at any point in their lives. I think they expected the club to be more insular, and safer from things happening that were out of their control. It’s been a shock to them.”
“I always thought Micro was a little creepy, if I’m honest,” Cammy said then, chewing her lip warily. “I mean, he hit on me a few times when I first started visiting here, and even when I was with Stitch. He’s not the type of guy who backs off when you ask him to, so I’m not entirely surprised he turned out to be the rapist and killer.”
“Wait. Rapist?”
Thirty-Four
Churchstartedoutasexpected, with that damn empty chair sitting there, like a silent watcher we all couldn’t stop glancing over at.
“By now you all know exactly who’s been fucking with the club, and I know it’s a big shock to us all,” Reacher said first.
“He’s got a lot to answer for, Pres. This whole fucking time he’s been staring us in the face, while trying to fuck us in the ass?” That was Rocket, and nobody argued, because wasn’t that how it felt? It was betrayal. A figurative knife in the back, as well as a literal one for me.
“That’s exactly why we’re meeting today. Because a decision needs to be made about him. I know he eventually gave us Tommy’s whereabouts, and he’s here now, back from hospital, but even if we set that aside because he finally did the right thing, there’s a lot we can’t forgive-”
“Forgive? He fucking attacked Lissa in her own office! The only forgiveness I can offer is none. None at all. That fucker was in my files, in my systems, sneaking in and out, attacking old ladies, and fucking playing us all for fools!” Whoa, clearly Ice was pissed.
“We’re not talking about forgiving him,” Stitch declared, slamming a fist on the table, “but the issue that remains is what to fucking do with him. The question is if there’s more we need to know, or if we’re ready to put an end to this. To him.”
Fuck me. Don’t tell me to do it, please don’t fucking do that. I knew I’d do anything for this club, and I’d said it enough times, but did I think it’d ever come down to torturing or killing a man I was so close with? It’d be like being told to do that to Ry or Has. In fact, as I looked around the room, I saw nobody I’d be comfortable following an order to do that to.
Bikers are family. We’re chosen family, found family, whatever the fuck you want to call it. We choose this life and each other, because either we have nothing else, or we want something better than we had. Sure, some get into it purely for the love of the ride, or for a life of crime, but that’s not why I joined. I was looking for something I’d always dreamed of as a kid. Somewhere to belong. Somewhere filled with people who I could rely on, family, a brotherhood. I’d spent two years hanging with Micro, and now it was coming down to who has to fucking kill him.
“Torch,” Reacher said, and I cursed, rubbing a hand over the back of my head.
“Pres,Jesus… don’t ask me this.”
