Page 34 of Rough Ride

“Henry was a transporter. He shuttled around a lot more than car parts and kilos of marijuana,” Grier said, looking at her darkly. “Before you wet yourself, Henry didn’t know. Transporters weren’t allowed to see in the trucks they drove. I don’t know what made Henry stop that night, maybe he heard crying or something broke loose, but when he opened the back to check, he found four women chained in the back. He let them go. That’s when Hamilton and I caught wind of the secret operations.”

“That’s why Max had it out for him so bad,” Eliana said steadily, though her face had gone brutally pale. “I didn’t know, my dad never mentioned anything about that. I guess it explains why he was so determined to keep me away from Kye and the rest of the Demons.”

“It took time, but with the distraction of the Defectors, we were able to find the sources and the inner workers. We knew that Max was too big to be taken down from the outside. Cops, FBI, State Patrol would be useless to stop the trafficking without taking down the entire club. We needed someone who could infiltrate the inner circle. Someone who could take down the establishment without causing a civil war or mass arrests of innocent people.”

“Kye?” Eliana asked, and Grier nodded. “That’s no secret to me. Kye has said multiple times that he was going to change things once Max was out of the picture.”

“Well, Kye doesn’t know everything,” Grier said harshly. “He’s too close to it. He’s been a pawn just like the rest of them. Do you think Kye knew about the women in that bar? The same women he turned to when he was lonely?”

“Kye would never…”

“Of course he wouldn’t!” Grier interrupted. “That’s what I’m telling you. Even Max could see that Kye would never agree to that kind of action. That’s why Max busied him these last few years running guns to the UK. He even tolerated his little hobby. You.”

“Me?”

“Max knew all about his frequent trips to Cambridge to check up on you. You’ve been Kye’s only weakness since he was a prospect. Max wanted that. Fostered that. Let Kye think he was getting away with it because he knew one day he could exploit it if he needed to.”

“Is that what Max is doing now?” Even as she asked the question, her hands folded on the counters, she knew the answer. The timing was all too convenient. Max had played things perfectly. This wasn’t about Henry dying and passing his debt on to her. This wasn’t just about revenge. This was leverage. With Kye due to take over, Max needed to know that even in his death he still had control over the MC. Over Pine Hill. Over Kye. “Fuck,” she breathed and covered her face with her hands

“Sucks, doesn’t it?” Grier asked as he opened the fridge a third time, pulled out a beer, and set it in front of Eliana.

“Grier,” she said, looking up from her hands, “these men I’ve been finding loopholes for… having released from prison. This isn’t just Max’s last act of kindness, is it? He’s securing business. I’ve been helping him free kidnappers and rapists.”

“Yep,” he replied shortly and saluted her with his bottle before taking a swig. “You see, things aren’t as black and white as you’d like to think they are. You can look down on us ‘criminals, drug dealers’ and all-around assholes if you want, but you were caught in the spider’s web like the rest of us.”

“I’m going to throw up,” she declared, hand over her stomach and with no other feasible way to quell her nausea, she downed her beer in one breath. Grier grinned, slightly impressed.

“Kye was poised perfectly to succeed Max. We could have brought all this information to him, and he could have ended it all without any bloodshed.”

“Why can’t you still do that? Max already told Kye he was going to leave the club to him. Max will be dead soon. Why can’t we just wait it out? Just a little longer.” Her voice sounded frantic and pleading at this point. Even she could hear the desperation.

“We’re long past that,” Grier said, placing his hands on the counter again. “Max knows your game, your hold on him. Everything will come to a standstill until Kye proves once and for all his loyalty to the club.”

“How does he do that?” Eliana asked, looking up at Grier. The slightly older man leaned his back against the sink and crossed his arms, looking steadily at her. “It’s me, isn’t it… he has to kill me. That’ll be his act of fealty.”

“You’ve been a colossal pain in the ass, but no one can say you’re stupid.” Eliana felt her hands shaking, and she’d lost feeling in her legs. She desperately wanted to get up, to pace, to make her mind work, but she felt rooted to her seat. Paralyzed was a better word. “Don’t worry; he won’t do it,” Grier interjected, taking her from her thoughts. “As I said, you’re his weakness.”

“So what happens then? Max orders him to kill me, Kye refuses, and what? He’s allowed to just walk away? I doubt that.”

“You should,” Grier said, as though even the suggestion of it was the stupidest thing he’d ever heard. “If Kye outright refuses, Max will kill him on the spot. He’ll hate doing it, but he’s not a man who holds on to sentiment. Not this late in the game anyway.”

“We can’t let that happen!” Eliana had regained her senses and was on her feet. “You-you have to stop Max. We have to kill him!”

“You say that like it’s the easiest thing in the world. Just march in his office and put two in his chest. He’s got himself holed up in the clubhouse with more security than the president. No, if anyone is going to be killed it needs to be an easier target. Someone… vulnerable.”

She froze in place from her pacing when she heard the clatter on the counter. Turning around, she saw Grier had removed one of his pistols and set it on the counter. She looked from it to his hand to his eyes. “You’re here to kill me,” she concluded. For some reason, an eerie calm washed over her.

“Those of us who are trying to purify the Demons from soliciting women… they want me to. Kye is our last hope. Without him, Riggs will be named successor, and we’re in for another thirty years of hell. Worse, more than likely,” Grier explained.

“Kye won’t do what you want if you kill me,” she said, facing him fully. “When he finds out you shot me, he’ll kill you.”

“Probably,” Grier said, removing his hand from the gun and resting it on his hip. “Then again, I’m not the indispensable one. I’ve spent years supporting Kye, covering his back, protecting him so that when the time was right he’d be ready to take over and save us from the fate of prospering on slavery. If I die, it’s better than things going on as they are. No one life is bigger than this.”

“There must be another way,” Eliana said in a shaky voice. “You can get me out of town… Kye said he was working on a plan.”

“Kye will be at the clubhouse in the next hour. Max is going to give him an ultimatum. If Kye goes in there and is ordered to kill you, we both know how that conversation is going to go. He’ll refuse. Max will kill him. Then Dhal, Riggs, or any other member will show up here and kill you anyway. You have to realize, Eliana, you’re dead either way.” Grier was slow and deliberate in his explanation, and before she knew it, Eliana had hot tears running down her cheeks.

“Why are you telling me all of this? Some sort of mercy killing? Explaining everything so I can live in misery five minutes before I die?” She spat the words with bitterness.