Page 34 of Celtic Dragon
“Possibly, but I doubt it.”
“Why not Skid?” I ask. I’m sure it’s him. Who else would be pissed off about Mark’s death? To my knowledge, he was Mark’s only friend.
“Well, it’s not a biker move. We don’t play games. If we’re trying to get a point across or threaten someone, we just do it. Skid may be an asshole, but he’s all biker. This isn’t his style. His ego is too big to hide in the shadows.”
Well, damn. I didn’t think about that. Hawk’s right, that makes perfect sense.I remember when I met Skid, the night Brianne brought him over to meet Mark and me. I didn’t like him then and I don’t like him now. But as much as I want to lay blame at his feet, I agree with Hawk. He isn’t the one doing this.
But who is?I ask myself. “Should we call the police?”
Spike looks at Hawk and says, “You know, it wouldn’t hurt to let Briggs know what’s going on here. Hell, he might even be able to help.”
“Why would you even think about getting the police involved, Hawk? That’s not you … and that’s definitely not something Ice would do,” Honey chimes in. Honey hasn’t really said much since we discovered the note, but now, at the mention of the police, she seems agitated. I find it odd that she doesn’t want the police involved.What’s up with that?
“I agree,” Hawk says and I can see Honey physically relax. Then, surprising us all, he adds, “With Spike.” He’s quiet for a moment and then says, “Emma, I want you to think real hard. Is there something that we’re missing? Did someone come into the house since the last time you were upstairs?”
I try my hardest to rethink everything that happened earlier today and I come up with nothing. I look around the room, trying to see if anything jogs my memory, and I notice that Honey has left the room.Where did she go? What’s wrong with her?Then a realization hits me like a ton of bricks.Honey! Oh my God,Honey!She was upstairs earlier today cleaning. When she came down, I asked her to go out with me. She said she was going to “freshen up” and I headed out to the car. I never went back upstairs! She was the last person to be in this room.
I look around the room at the boys and debate whether I should say something. My initial instinct tells me no. Honey has been a trusted friend of this club for years. I can’t believe that she would do anything to harm the club, Ice, or me. I decide to keep this to myself. I know I will need some solid proof that Honey did this before I accuse her.
“No, Hawk, I don’t remember anything else. Nobody came into the house today that I can remember.”
Hawk nods and pulls out his phone. I decide to go and look for Honey. Something has upset her, and I need to find out what. Hopefully when I do, it will put my suspicions to rest once and for all. I assume that Hawk is calling Sgt. Briggs and I don’t need to hang around to hear the conversation.
I go downstairs. Honey isn’t in the kitchen or the great room, where I expect to find her. I look down the hall toward her bedroom and I can see that the door is closed. As I approached the door, I knock softly and call, “Honey? Are you ok?”
The door opens and her room is dark. She must be behind the door as it’s opening, because I don’t see her as I enter the room. Turning, I say, “Honey?”
“I’m right here,” she says in the darkness.
What the hell? Is she trying to scare the shit out of me?I ask, “Are you ok? You seemed a little upset when Hawk mentioned calling Briggs.”
“Emma, you have enough to worry about right now. You don’t need to add my problems to the mix.”
“Honey, you’re my friend. Hawk has my situation under control. What’s going on with you?” She’s acting very strange … perhaps she is indeed the one that put the note on my bed. I silently pray that it wasn’t her, but she isn’t doing or saying anything to make me think the contrary.
“Oh, Emma, I don’t know what to do.” She sits down on the bed and puts her face in her hands.
Ok, I wasn’t expecting that.It looks like she’s genuinely upset about something, and that something has nothing to do with turning on the club or me. I walk over to the lamp and turn the light on. Then I sit down on the bed next to her and put my arm around her shoulder. “Why don’t you tell me and maybe I can help?”
“Remember when Hawk said that he was calling Sgt. Briggs?”
“Yes.”
“I have a sketchy past with Sgt. Briggs.”
“Sketchy? What could you have possibly done that’s worse than the rest of us?”
She looks at me sadly and says, “Trust me, it’s worse.”
“It can’t be all that bad. Why don’t you give me a shot? I won’t say anything to the guys if you don’t want me to.”
“I know you won’t, and it would really help to talk about it, but I don’t want you to treat me differently because of it.”
“Really?” I say lightly. “These boys kill people, run illegal guns, and Lord knows what else. Are you a gunrunner?” She shakes her head. “You didn’t kill someone, did you?” That comment got a bit of a smile out of her, but she’s still really upset.
She gives me that look again and says, “Edinboro is my hometown. But when I was in my twenties, I left. I had a bad coke problem; really bad. I did some of the most unimaginable things to myself and other people. Things I don’t want to relive or even talk about.”
“Ok, go on,” I urge her.
