Page 102 of Last Mile

With a pained bark of a laugh, I replied, “Trust me. I’m aware of it.” I swiped away the tears that had fallen down my cheeks.

“Everything just happened so fast. I never intended to fall for Bishop, and when I did, I didn’t want to be an agent investigating him. I just wanted to be a woman in love with him.”

Annabel swept her hand to her chest. “Oh, you poor thing.”

Kim gave an exasperated sigh. “Well, the only way you have a chance with Bishop is to see to freeing him and the others. Once he’s out, then we can all work on getting him to give you another chance.”

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You want to give me another chance?”

Kim smiled. “Yeah, I guess I do. At the end of the day, we all fuck up from time to time. Now that you’ve explained yourself, I can see things differently.”

I couldn’t help exhaling a huge, relieved breath. “So you all will help me?” A resounding chorus of yeses came back at me. “Great. I can’t thank you enough.”

“No. Thank you for doing so much to see that our men are freed,” Alexandra said.

“Damn straight,” Kim said. She then smacked me on the back.

“How about a drink before you go?”

I grinned. “I sure as hell could use one.”

Shaking her head, Kim said, “Honey, you’re going to need more than one if you plan on talking to Bishop.”

CHAPTER TWENTY: BISHOP

As I lay back on my jailhouse bunk, I stared up at the ceiling. Counting the many cracks within the plaster was one way I tried to pass the time. It had been thirty- six hours since the ATF busted into the clubhouse and sent my world careening out of control.

While I’d had a few misdemeanors in my day, I’d never spent a night in jail. I’d always bailed out the day I had come in. But now I was facing gun and drug charges, and if the ATF got their way, I wouldn’t be getting out for a long time.

Of course the ATF made me think of Samantha, which caused my traitorous heart to ache. I never imagined a woman could wound me so deep, but she did. All the time we had spent together had been a lie. She was a fucking fed working me for a case. I had heard of women playing men before, but I never thought I would be one of the sad saps it happened to. Samantha deserved a fucking Oscar for her acting skills. I had thought she truly cared for me— that we had something special going on. Something like what Rev and Deacon had.

But I was wrong. So fucking wrong. Not only had she screwed me over, but she had screwed over my brothers. Seething anger coiled within me at the reminder of how she acted as though she had cared for them just as she had for me. But she hadn’t. All she had wanted was to keep rising in the ranks in the bureau. I was sure our case would win her a fat promotion. While we rotted away in jail, she would enjoy more money and a higher rank.

Just the thought caused my fists to clench at my sides and I longed for a way to lash out.

More than anything, I wished I had my brothers to confide in.From the time of our arrest, Rev, Deacon, and I had been separated. The thought being that we couldn’t easily come up with stories or plea deals if we weren’t a solid unit with our president, vice president, and sergeant at arms. Deacon and Boone had been sent to a jail in another county while Mac and I remained at the jail where we had originally been brought. As president, Rev was seen as the greatest threat, and he had been put in solitary away from us.

At the sound of jangling keys, I lowered my gaze from the ceiling to see a guard strolling up to the cell. “Up and at ’em, Malloy.”

“What’s going on?”

“You got a visitor,” the guard replied.

Mac and I exchanged a look. “Mike must have some new information on the case,” I said as I hopped down off the bunk.

“As much as the club is paying him, he better come up with a hell of a lot for us,” Mac grumbled.

Once the guard swung open the door, I stepped outside and followed him out of the cell block. After we went down a long hallway, he stopped at a room on the right. When I stepped inside, I found it empty except for a table and two chairs. One of the walls had a two-way mirror, and I couldn’t help wondering who was on the other side. After sitting down, I raised my handcuffed fists at the officer.

With a shake, I asked, “Aren’t you going to take these off me?”

He shook his head. “Powers that be said they stay on.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What the hell for?”

“You might pose a danger.”

“To my lawyer? That’s fucking unlikely, since I need his happy ass alive to get me out of here.”