Page 46 of Edge

The rest of the evening was spent shooting the shit with the rest of the club while we waited for an update on Falcon. At onepoint, Ranger came over and tried to get Evie to play a game of pool with him before Keegan intervened.

A few hours later, Badger turned off the music and announced that Falcon was going to be fine.

“It sucks that their party was ruined,” Evie said.

“It does,” I agreed. “But I bet they’ll reschedule it.”

“They already have,” Harper said. “It’s tomorrow night.”

Evie frowned. “I won’t be able to come. I’m working the dinner shift tomorrow.”

“I thought you told Marcy you weren’t going to cover for her.”

“That was for tonight. She asked for tomorrow night off last week,” she explained.

We hung around for a little longer while Evie helped clean up, despite Harper’s protests.

“Well, that was an interesting evening,” Evie said when we were on the way back to my house.

“I still can’t believe that girl spit on Phoenix. Who in the hell spits on the president of a motorcycle club?”

Evie crossed her arms over her chest and seemed to shiver. “That would’ve ended very differently if she’d done that with the Mad Dogs.”

“I told you we were different.”

“Yes, you did, and your club continues to prove it.”

13

EVIE

When I walked into the diner fifteen minutes before my shift started, it was quiet. Too quiet. Usually, the guys were banging pots and pans around in the kitchen while Irene made coffee and rolled silverware.

I bypassed the break room and went straight to the front to see what was going on. None of the coffee machines were going and most of the lights were still off. “Irene?”

My skin prickled with fear, and my stomach filled with dread when she didn’t answer. “Tony? Bart?”

I turned to go to the kitchen and stopped short when I saw Irene sprawled on the floor with a small puddle of blood seeping out from underneath her. “No! No, no, no,” I chanted and ran to her, dropping to my knees beside her. The bag I carried to work slipped from my shoulder and made a sickening splat sound when it landed in her blood.

Reaching into my bag, I felt around for my phone with one hand while I gently tried to rouse Irene with the other.

“It’s about time you showed up.”

I froze while chills ran down my spine at the sound of Muzzle’s voice. “What did you do?” I gritted out while keeping my eyes on Irene and praying that she was still alive.

“I found a way to entertain myself while I waited for you,” he said, as if he’d been playing a card game instead of terrorizing innocent people.

The rage that surged through me was almost overwhelming. He’d already taken someone from me and scarred me for life, and he was trying to do it again, if he hadn’t already.

“Why are you here?” I asked, hoping to buy myself the few seconds I desperately needed.

Carefully moving my hand, I let go of my phone and wrapped my fingers around Edge’s pistol and removed it from the holster. With slow and steady movements, I got to my feet and kept my hands in front of me.

He snorted derisively. “To make you pay for trying to pin Randall’s murder on me and your brother.”

When I turned around to face him, I raised the gun and fired, hitting him in his torso. I wasn’t sure exactly where, but I felt a brief sense of relief when he stumbled backward and fell to the ground.

For several long moments, he didn’t move, and neither did I. Then his eyes popped open, and he shifted to reach behind his back. I didn’t warn him or tell him to stop before I shot him again, hitting his shoulder. His arm fell limply to his side as blood appeared on his shirt.