Page 24 of Crow’s Haven (Savage Legion MC #15)

Crow

I t’s been one week of chasing down clues leading nowhere, bullshit sightings that go cold, and every damn lead crumbling before we even get near it.

One week of waking up with my gut twisted and throat dry, haunted by the thought of Sharon out there alone, desperate and scared.

All ‘cause I blew up when I found out her most closely guarded secret.

Guilty or not, she don’t deserve to live her life on the damn run.

My ass is parked at the clubhouse bar, my fingers drumming tensely against the wood. It don’t matter how many times I turn this shit over in my mind, I can’t milk any more leads out of what we know.

Beside me, Siege and Rigs study their phones, eyes narrowed with exhaustion and frustration. None of us have slept much lately. Sharon’s disappearance weighs heavy on our minds, draining us as we chase down leads.

“Any word from that cousin?” I ask tightly, glancing towards Rigs. After some digging, we’d found more info on Sharon Jackson and managed to get a number. I know the answer before he even responds.

“Nothing,” he replies gruffly. He’s clearly as frustrated as I am. “She swears she hasn’t heard from her since the night she ran.”

“This is fucking bullshit,” Siege mutters, jumping up to pace restlessly near the bar. “She’s covering for her.”

The only thing of use the cousin said was that my old lady’s name really is Sharon, but instead of Jackson, her surname is Carlin.

Zen also managed to do a deep dive, and we found where Sharon Carlin worked.

There was nothing in the newspapers about the death which was really strange unless the hospital was trying to hush it up.

One of our contacts at Las Salinas PD came up trumps with info on the arrest warrant though.

Which was interesting. Pushing that to the back of my mind I mutter, “She’s straight-up lying about knowing where Ladybug is. ”

Rigs chimes in, “I agree that she’s lying to us. The cousin is way too calm about all this. She knows more than she’s letting on.”

Siege’s eyes narrow. “She’s definitely helping her. You said Sharon left with just the clothes on her back. She had no vehicle, money, or phone. Someone’s feeding her resources and that person cares enough to also keep her hidden.”

I tilt my glass and get ready to take another sip. “If the cousin helped Sharon before, it stands to reason she’s helping her now.”

Siege is still pacing, his movements getting stiff and jerky.

I shoot Rigs a worried look, before glancing over at Siege, “Brother, you’re exhausted and starting to break down. We all are. Time to grab a few hours of shut-eye. After we get some sleep, we’ll come together and look at the situation with fresh eyes.”

By some minor miracle, Siege jumps at the chance. “Yeah, I feel like my brain has turned to mush.”

Rigs and I stay behind as Siege climbs the stairs. We linger, intent on finishing our drinks. I swirl whiskey around in the bottom of my glass, frustrated and just bone tired.

Rigs finally speaks, his voice low, breaking the heavy silence. “Have you planned beyond finding her?”

“She’s not a fucking killer,” I snap. The annoyance is more at myself than my club brother. That I’d jumped to conclusions before finding out the truth from her own lips.

“But what if she is?” he asks quietly.

I crank my head around, ready to tell him to stop being an asshole.

But when I look at him, all I see is the spiritual leader of our club, wanting to help me work through the unthinkable.

Rigs was the first brother to join the Savage Legion back when Siege’s old man founded the club.

Needless to say, he’s seen some shit, faced his share of betrayal and disappointment.

He’s trying to walk me through a worst-case scenario.

I clear my throat and force myself to face up to a what if that breaks my fucking heart.

“I don’t think she’s a killer, much less some kind of angel of death serial killer.

That just doesn’t fit with what I know about my old lady.

There might be something really fucked up going on and she did something accidentally that resulted in his death.

But if that were the case, I think she would have owned up to it, rather than run off.

I believe her when she says she’s totally innocent and thinks she’s being framed or some shit like that. ”

“But what if she’s not? It’s best to get your head around that tiny fucking possibility now rather than when you’re in the moment.”

I ground out, “If she really is a killer, I’ll turn her into the police. I won’t take a chance on her hurting my boys or anyone else’s kids. Is that what you want to hear?”

Rigs nod slowly, his eyes steady. “Yeah, it’s not just what I want to hear. It’s what I want you to actually be prepared to do if you’re faced with proof that she killed that boy. You have two boys to raise. You can’t afford to get caught up in her shit.”

“I hear ya, brother. You really think it’s ever gonna come down to me turning in my old lady?”

He takes another sip of his whiskey. “Hell, if I know. My philosophy is to be prepared for the worst and anything short of that is a blessing.”

“I believe in her. Until I see cold, hard proof or she flat-out confesses, I’m riding with the assumption she’s clean.”

“I can respect that, especially since I don’t think she’s a killer either.”

“However, I think that when someone loses their life through foul play or otherwise,” he says carefully, leveling his gaze directly at me.

“The people in charge scramble to figure out what happened and assign blame. Law enforcement does the same. This situation concerns me because of the information Zen dug up.”

“You mean the part where they sat on that arrest warrant for damn near a month?”

“Yeah, everybody knows that your best chance of finding a missing person or tracking down a criminal is to get after them as soon as possible. I want to know why.”

I knock back the rest of my whiskey. “To be honest, I’ve been scratching my head about that one too. On the one hand it looks like the hospital are trying their best to hush everything up. But on the other the cops are pointing the finger at Sharon.”

“Things ain’t always what they seem,” he continues.

“Shit gets complicated, especially in hospitals. You’ve got cops desperate to close cases, hospitals scrambling to avoid lawsuits.

Innocent people sometimes get caught in the crossfire.

All it takes is one scapegoat to take the fall and all their problems go away. ”

My jaw tightens like a damn vice, but I hold his stare. Can’t pretend there ain’t truth in what he’s saying. “You’re saying you think Sharon was literally framed by the hospital or the cops?”

“I’m saying it’s not impossible,” Rigs replies evenly, with no hesitation in his tone.

“Remember what happened with Pope and how he had the town under his thumb. All it takes is for some nefarious administrator and a cop looking for extra cash and your woman becomes the scapegoat. We owe her the benefit of the doubt. She’s family now.

You’re a member of the Savage Legion. She’s your old lady and that means something.

This is me assuring you that we’ve got your back.

No matter how dark and twisted the situation gets, we’re not giving up on her. ”

My chest damn near caves in from the weight of his loyalty. When I answer my voice is rough with emotion, “Appreciate that, brother. More than I can say.”

He leans back slightly, his eyes dark with quiet intensity. “I don’t think your old lady is a serial killer either. Tex did that workup on angel of death serial killers and she didn’t fit the bill.”

I nod back. “Yeah, she didn’t check a single box. Wrong age, no need for attention, no savior complex, no control issues, and she sure as hell never acted like she thought death was a mercy. She ain’t built like that.”

Rigs thinks it over for a minute. “Maybe we need to go back to that phone conversation you overheard and analyze it one more time. Close your eyes, start at the beginning and tell me everything you can remember about what you overheard.”

I shut my eyes and exhale a slow, steady breath, as memories of that day flood my mind. “I heard her on the phone. Her voice was low and intense. She thanked the other person and said that using their identity had been a lifesaver.”

I stall, remembering how shocked I was that she was using an alias and lying to me about her identity.

“What else did she say?” Rigs coaxes me.

“She told ‘em there was still a warrant out, and the cops were after her. That’s when she said they think she killed a boy. Said she didn’t know how the hell to prove she didn’t.”

When I get lost in that memory, Rigs clears his throat.

I shake it off and keep going, “There’s a detail I forgot to say before. A co-worker called her at some point and tried to get her to turn herself in.”

“I remember you saying something about them thinking she might be a serial killer.”

“Yeah, that’s what the co-worker told her. Said the cops were floating the idea. I saw it as the person trying to scare her into coming in.”

“I agree. That sounds like secondhand information coming from the co-worker. It could be just some bullshit the other person made up to scare her into turning herself in.”

“But when Zen finally pulled the warrant, there wasn’t one damn word in there about her being flagged as some kind of serial killer,”

“Right,” Rigs agrees.

I feel like shit when the next part hits me.

“She told the other person she knows they ain’t ever gonna stop hunting her.

Said she was thinking about running again.

She said she loves us too much to drag me and the boys into her mess.

That we’re good people who don’t deserve the heat coming our way. ”

Rigs’ gaze sharpens thoughtfully. “She sounds like a good woman who is backed into a corner and is worried about hurting the people she loves. Here’s the thing, people think only guilty people run.

But innocent people run too. They panic and make mistakes out of fear.

It doesn’t mean they’re guilty. It just means they’re desperate. ”

I lean forward, dragging a hand down my face. “Fuck,” I mutter harshly, frustration and regret knotting in my gut. “I wish I had handled that better. If I had, we’d be halfway to solving the case instead of being shit outta luck finding her.”

Rigs shakes his head firmly, his tone steady and reassuring. “No sense beating yourself up about things you can’t change. What matters is bringing her home safely and helping her prove her innocence.”

I rub at my eyes, bone-tired and pissed at myself. Rigs is right, even if it stings to hear it.

He finishes, “We need to get some sleep so we can look at this with a fresh set of eyes. Maybe notice an angle we missed before.”

“I’d love to, but I should check on the boys first.”

Rigs gives me a firm shake of his head. “They’re fine at the cabin with Evan and Levi. As far as they know, it’s a fun campout with the prospects.”

I rake my hand through the side of my hair, jaw grinding. “Only seeing them every couple of days is killing me. I’m used to having ‘em under the same roof every damn night.”

Rigs gives me a tired smile. “They’re so excited to be doing all their favorite things, time is slipping by for them.

They haven’t stopped long enough to ask for you.

Just let them be this one time and focus on the job at hand.

My boy is doing a good job of distracting them.

They’re still asking about Sharon, but he told them she had to deal with a family emergency and she’ll be back. ”

I nod, even though my whole damn body’s screaming to fire up the bike and ride straight to that cabin to be with my boys. This situation’s fucked six ways from Sunday. “Alright. I’ll try to crash a few hours. Hit the ground fresh in the mornin’.”

Rigs nods sharply. “Good. We’ve chased down every lead. Hell, we’ve even had brothers scouring hospitals for Jane Does.”

“And still not a goddamn thing,” I mutter, voice low and full of grit.