Page 28 of Deception (Deranged Drifters MC #22)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Griffin’s Beach Lex

A week has passed since Autumn’s death, and Lex finally feels like she can breathe. Life still feels off, but it’s getting more normal. The betrayal hit harder than if a member had turned on them, and it’s taken a lot of reflection to come to terms with it.

Autumn had been Lex’s friend. One of her oldest. Autumn, Felicity, and Lex were the three originals from the second generation in the club. The ones who wanted change rather than accepting life as it was.

The more she thinks about it, the more she realizes it all comes back to the one decision Lex made in high school. If she’d never convinced Autumn to go out with Rocco, they may not be here. Both could have gone on to live happy lives where they both are alive and thriving.

“She never wanted all of this,” Lex says to herself as she sits alone on the couch and stares at the blank television.

She may be feeling a little more normal, but she still grieves. Colt can’t fully understand because it’s different from what he’s gone through. He’s never had one of his oldest friends betray him and his family.

“Lex?” Lucas asks as he walks out and sits on the couch. “Are you okay?”

“I’m just talking to myself,” she says and smiles at him.

He still hasn’t told her what he went to talk to Lily about, and Lily hasn’t said a word, either. Not that she will. Whatever it is, he’ll tell Lex when he’s ready.

Loud pounding on the front door echoes in the house, and Lex sees Julian standing outside.

“Baby, take Noah and Calla out to the tree house Colt and you built in the wooded area,” she says, jumping up.

Lucas doesn’t hesitate, and he hurries outside while Lex runs to the bedroom to grab her Glock from the bedside table and tucks it into the back of her jeans.

Waiting until the kids are out of sight, she steps out onto the porch and forces Julian back rather than let him into the house. Whatever she does, she has to keep him out front.

“Where the fuck did Autumn go?” Julian demands.

“She took off.”

“When will she back?”

Swallowing, she keeps her face steady. “She won’t be back.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Missing your informant?”

His eyes widen, and he takes a step back to lean against the porch railing. If he puts too much weight against it, he’ll break it and fall right onto the rocks beneath them. Something Lex wouldn’t mind seeing.

“What… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I know you were talking to Autumn to take down the club,” Lex says.

“Karmen told you?”

The betrayed look he wears irks her. She’d love nothing more than to reach out and slap him. “No, you did. I was there when you talked to my mother-in-law. It’s not a smart move for the Chief to divulge who his informant is, is it?”

Looking from one side to the other, he looks almost wild with fear. He’s caught, and he tries to find a way to talk himself out of this mess.

“Maybe I lied.”

“Maybe you didn’t.”

He glares and puffs his chest so much that he nearly pops a button. “What did you do to her?”

“I confronted her,” she lies. “I told her I knew, and I was going to the club. I gave her a choice. She could leave and never come back, or she’d have to face Rocco when he finds out what she’d done. She knew she was fucked and took off.”

“Or, you killed her.”

Shaking her head, Lex snorts. “I never touched her. Whether we were on good terms or not, she was still my friend.”

“You expect me to believe you didn’t kill her?”

The you may be referencing the club as a whole, but Lex chooses to interpret it as her. This way, she can’t get caught lying.

“I never touched her. On my kids’ lives, I never physically hurt her. You want to avoid Rocco, though. If you see him coming, duck into the nearest building.”

Julian snorts like he’d never be afraid of the club even though they both know that if it came down to it, he’d never survive ten minutes. “Why’s that?”

“Because Autumn left a note confessing what she did before she took off. Cleared out all the money they had in the safe, and she got herself a new identity. Must’ve, too, because Brock can’t find her.”

“You’re just covering for them.”

“Did you know I was kidnapped years ago? Recent years, not teenager years.”

His head shakes in surprise. “No.”

“I was. So were a few other women from the club. Including Autumn. The Savage Slashers wanted information, and they wanted it from me. Unlike my club, they’re more than willing to hurt women.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Lex, but what does that—”

“Autumn was hurt the least out of all of us, but you’d think she’d been the one waterboarded and beaten or used as an ashtray.”

Julian stares with wide eyes. “What?”

“Autumn was the weakest of us, and if she’d known whatever they thought I did, she would have talked. All the information you got from her is decades old. What she gave you will not allow you to take down the club.”

“You’re just saying—”

“You can keep up your witch hunt with whatever she gave you, but that’s why I gave her a chance to leave. Nothing she knows would ever get you a conviction. Look at it, Julian. You haven’t even been able to make an arrest.”

“I don’t believe you would ever let her go. You’re too dependent on the club.”

Dependent? What the fuck are you talking about?

Swallowing, Lex sniffles. “If she’d had information that could hurt my family, yeah, maybe I would have. But she had nothing, and regardless of where we stood, she was still my friend. The thought of hurting her is worse than the hurt of betrayal.”

Julian’s in her face faster than she expected, and his breath tells her he opted for the corn beef special at the diner for lunch today. “Or maybe the club killed her when they found out, and you’re covering for your pussy bitch of a husband!”

“That’s a lot of accusations with nothing to back them up. Now, get out of my face and get off my property.”

“Or what?”

“You called Colt a pussy bitch, but you’re the man who showed up knowing he wasn’t home so you could confront his wife. Hypocritical much?”

Smiling, he rubs his nose on hers, and she cringes. “Maybe I’ll just take a page out of the Drifters’ playbook and operate outside the law. Get my own form of payment for what your husband put me through.”

The implication makes her skin crawl, and it’s made even worse when he grips her biceps as though he plans to force her into a vulnerable position.

Pulling the gun from her jeans, she presses it against his chest and forces him backwards. “Don’t ever touch me again.”

He releases her and backs up a step, his hands in the air. “I get it. You’re a badass, Lex.”

“That’s not it. I see the desperation in your eyes, and I know better than most just what lengths a desperate man will go to.

You’re looking at losing everything because you couldn’t make a good decision if it showed up in front of you like a flashing neon sign.

All the bad ones are finally catching up to you. ”

Julian’s finger points at her face, and he pushes it against her cheek despite the gun aimed at his chest. “The trash will be taken out in all forms. Not only will your little club lose all its members to prison, I’ll make sure the women pay for it, too.”

“You have nothing on us. The club or the women.”

“Then I’ll make it up!” he shouts and steps off the porch when she cocks the gun. “I’ll make sure that you only ever see your kids through a plexiglass window. You’ll never get out of there.”

“You’d make up evidence because of a vendetta? You’re really that pissed that Colt outed your pathetic attempt at being in charge to the media?”

He points his finger at her again as his face turns so red she worries it might explode. “That’s the truth! I’m the best damn thing to ever happen to this fucking town!”

“Then why did the Drifters have to catch a serial killer? You’re threatening me and my club by saying you’ll make up evidence against us because we did what you couldn’t do. Do you ever stop and hear yourself?”

She lowers the gun, and he shakes his head, his hand resting on the gun that stays in his holster on his hip. At least she has a head start should he decide to use it.

“I’ve worked too hard to get where I am. I won’t let your fucking club take me down.”

“You’ve never succeeded on your own! You relied on the club until they saw who you’d become, and then you decided to light that bridge on fire rather than try to repair it.

They’re the only reason you got to where you are, and you could have been successful if you hadn’t gotten too damn big for your britches, Julian. ”

“You and your club won’t take me down. I won’t allow it. I am the one who brings down assholes.”

“You’re showing your ass right now, and I’ll make sure everyone sees it, too.”

Laughing, he spits at her feet. “And who will believe a biker whore? Hell, you’re the product of your father bedding a whore. You’re no better than your mother, but I guess you’ll just say you never had a chance, right? That’s what all the hookers I arrest say.”

“Get off my property. I’m filing a restraining order, and if you ever come near me again, it’ll be considered harassment. You’ll be breaking the same law you’re supposed to uphold.”

“I am the law!” he screams, jumping back up the steps. “I am the law, and you can do whatever you want. It won’t do a damn bit of good because it’ll go nowhere. I’ll make sure your claim never sees the light of day. Keep pushing me, and maybe you’ll never see the light of day again.”

Leaning back, she lifts her gun again. “You’re threatening to kill me?”

“Payback’s as big of a bitch as you are. Do not fuck with me, Alexis. You cannot take me on, and I will end all of you. Even if I have to bury each of you in unmarked graves myself. Your husband and his club will go down in flames by the time I’m through.”

He turns on his heel and walks back to his car. Lex shakes her head. “You don’t care that you’re going to have to set yourself on fire to do it, do you?”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“Before you decide to make up shit to take them down, you might want to stop and think about the real shit they have on you that is not only true but far more damning.”

“All of you are done fucking with me. The club is filled with murderers, and everyone knows it.”

“If that’s the case, why’d they call the cops to arrest Gerard Buchanan instead of just killing him? You know, since the club is filled with blood hungry murderers. Because I doubt anyone would disagree that he deserved to die.”

“To make me look bad!”

She laughs. “You don’t realize it, but we don’t think about you even a fraction of the amount of time you think about us. But the truth is, it’s really not that hard to make you look bad, Julian. You do a great job of that all on your own.”

“Fuck you!”

Setting the gun on the railing, she just stares. “You’re making wild accusations and blatant threats. You sound pretty damn desperate.”

“I am!” Julian shouts and opens the car door. “But the club will be the ones who pay for all of this. And I’ll make sure you pay, too, Alexis. One way or another, I’m going to make you regret ever coming back here.”

He peels out of the driveway and down the road within seconds, and she lets out a shaky breath. No matter how armed she is, or what her plan may be, it’s never easy to confront a crazed, desperate man.

When they’re that nuts, the plan can derail quicker than a toddler’s attitude. Luckily, he didn’t actually pull out his gun and shoot her where she stood. There’d be no coming back from that, and her kids would lose their father in the process of revenge.

Thanks for the show, Julian. You just put the final nail in your coffin.

Just as Lex turns to walk back into the house, a familiar feeling creeps up her spine, and the hair on the back of her neck stands up. Someone’s watching her. She looks around, trying to find the source of the feeling, but whoever it is has found one hell of a hiding place.

“No, not again. I do not have the patience for another stalker,” she mumbles and walks inside, gun in hand.