Verek (Savage Kings MC - South Carolina #3) - Lane Hart Page 0,12
you know how brave I think you are for being here,” I tell her softly. “And never forget that these men deserve to die a thousand deaths for what they did, not just to you but to at least three other women we know about.”
“Can I take pictures? Just to show the other girls?” she asks quietly.
I shake my head. “I’m sorry. Having that kind of evidence out there is just too risky.”
She nods again and I hear a sniffle. “I figured so. That’s why I wanted to come with you because unless I see it for myself, I wouldn’t be able to believe they’re really gone.”
“I know,” I say. “And I want you to have that closure. I wish the other girls could too. But you’re also here to tell me if they’re the right men, to make sure we don’t kill an innocent.”
“Of course,” she says, reaching up to swipe her fingers under each eye to dry up the tears she doesn’t want me to see. “If these are the ones, I’m certain I’ll recognize them. I wish I could forget their faces. It was dark in the van, but I still saw them and heard them up close.”
“I know and I trust your judgment on this,” I tell her. “I just…I don’t want you to look at me differently after it’s over.”
“You don’t have to worry about that, Verek. If I had the strength to do it myself, I assure you I would.”
“You’ve thought about this moment for a long time? Ending them?”
“Ever since the moment the first one touched me,” Tessa says. “They made it clear they were going to kill me. I would’ve killed them all in that moment if I had a gun.”
“I’m sorry you couldn’t then. But I’m glad I can do this for you, to keep your hands clean and your conscience clear.”
“I’ve felt…dirty since it happened. Not sure if my hands or any other part of me will ever be clean again,” she says as she gets to her feet. “Do you think I have time to take a quick shower?”
“Yeah, sure,” I reply since I have no clue how to respond to her admission as she heads for the bathroom. “But Tessa,” I say before she closes the door. “I don’t think there’s an inch of you that’s anything but perfect.”
Chapter Five
Tessa
* * *
The sun isn’t even up yet when Verek parks his bike on the side street across from the funeral home after slowly circling around the roads that border it twice. There are no lights on inside and no cars in the lot, which we hope means it’s empty. Now we can wait for the employees to show until we find…well, I don’t even know his name.
“Who are we looking for here?” I whisper to Verek as I keep my hands on his waist. I tell myself I’m just being careful in case he has to take off in a hurry, but the truth is that it’s nice to be able to touch him. The contact soothes my anxiety about what we’re about to do.
“Let me see,” he says, pulling a piece of paper from the inside of his cut. It’s covered with his messy handwriting that’s hard for me to decipher when I lean forward to try and read over his shoulder. “The guy here is Donald Franklin Jr.”
“And this is Franklin’s Funeral Home, so it’s his?” I ask.
“His father, Donald Franklin Sr., has owned it for thirty years according to Reece’s intel. The old man is apparently still hanging on, but his son ‘Donnie’ handles day-to-day operations.”
I gasp when that name triggers a memory of that night.
“What is it?” Verek asks, glancing at me over his shoulder.
“I just…I remembered what one of them said,” I tell him as my pulse races at the reminder.
“Can you tell me?”
“Someone, I don’t know who, but I remember someone saying, ‘Don’t forget to wrap it up, man. We don’t know where this bitch has been and…and we can’t leave any DNA in case someone finds her body before Donnie takes care of it.’”
“You heard them say that?” he whispers.
“Yes. It was right after…right when I was thrown in the van,” I say with a shaky breath.
“So they were going to kill you, all of you, eventually,” he grits out. “And then Donnie here was going to make you disappear so that no one ever found out. Those sick fucking bastards!”