Cruz (Dark and Dirty Sinners' MC #5) - Serena Akeroyd Page 0,160
rightly, she'd bled out, had almost died, and the birth had taken over thirty-six hours. Dad had been on a run, so Jason had been the guy who'd taken her to the hospital, and had stayed with her until Dad got back. Even then, he hadn't left.
He'd been with us the entire time.
I could remember exactly what Mom had called him—her rock.
So, while he’d been at the hospital with her, he was supposed to have headed out to murder someone, a crime with so much evidence against him, the jury had only deliberated their verdict for a half-hour…
Impossible.
A stitch-up.
"What the fuck am I reading?" I asked myself, rubbing my forehead where a headache was brewing.
And why was I reading it now? What did this have to do with anything?
Sure, it was unfair, and I was pissed off for my uncle’s sake, especially as I hadn't had a chance to know him because of this fucked-up case, but why now? Why had this been dropped off at my door now?
And how the fuck had the cops managed to bang this on Jason when he had to have an alibi?
Understanding how shellshocked victims felt for the first time in my life, I reached for my phone, only as I stared down at the screen, I wasn't sure who to call.
Somebody had wanted to bring this to my attention, but why?
On the ride home, I'd been thinking about calling Declan O'Donnelly, and even though it was early days, I knew that if he had anybody in the 42nd precinct, maybe I would get some answers to questions this file brought to life.
But before I could hit dial, I got to my feet in a cloud of dust from the gravel beneath me, shoved the papers back into the file, and climbed onto my bike.
Riding back to Rachel's place, it was only then, once the gates were closed behind me, that I knew I could make the call. I wouldn't have put it past the Feds to have planted bugs during their investigation, so this call couldn’t take place on clubhouse land. When Lodestar and Maverick were back on their feet, I'd have them scan the entire goddamn grounds, but until then, it was best to avoid MC territory.
Goddamn pigs.
Heading to the veranda, I sat down on one of the sofas I'd been sleeping on since Rachel had brought me here, then, and only then, did I pick up my phone again after I'd spread out the sheets of paper on the glass coffee table in front of me.
"Rex?" the Irish mobster asked when he answered the call.
"Hey Declan, I know you usually deal with Sin, but I needed to get in touch."
"Was there a problem with the run?" he asked warily.
"No, nothing like that. Ten of my men have just set off. They should be heading into one of your warehouses soon if traffic isn’t shit."
"Traffic is always shit," Declan joked, but I recognized something in his tone that hadn't been there the last time I'd spoken to him.
That had been back in the early days, after Mary Catherine, a nice girl who was a daughter of a Five Point lieutenant, had been branded by Digger, one of my men. Though that was a while back, voices didn't change that much.
He sounded, ridiculous though it might seem, gruffer. Angry. Pissed at the world.
I got it.
If anyone did, it was me.
"Sin told you about the blast, didn't he?"
Declan grunted. "Yeah, he did. Disgraceful."
"Understatement."
"Agreed.”
“Thanks for giving us time to get ourselves together.”
“No worries. You can’t get blood out of a stone.”
“Still, it’s appreciated. We owe you.”
He clicked his tongue. “How's your father doing? Sin mentioned that he was badly injured."
"We're hoping he'll pull through. He's a strong bastard, but that isn't why I'm calling you.
"Well, maybe it is. The situation with our mutual friends... Any chatter on the streets if it was them behind the blast?"
"Why aren’t you asking your own people?"
"Because they’re injured."
"Jesus." He heaved a sigh. "Lodestar as well?"
My brows rose at that. "You know of her?"
“We’ve known of her for a while. She's been of interest to the family, pretty much like yourself. Mutual friends."
"I know how that works," I grunted. "I heard about Benito. Glad the fucker’s croaked."
"All over the news, couldn't have missed it."
"Definitely sends a message. Any idea what he was killed over?”