Page 17 of Live Love Steal (Destroyers MC: Skilletsville PA #2)

Alibi - Sketch

B ear interrupted the meeting. His grim face, unusually so. “ Did he get to the part about getting pulled over yet?”

Fuck . I’d forgotten about that.

Jackson , who’d been letting Wolf lead, stood up. “ What the fuck did he say?”

If I didn’t talk now, Bear would talk over me. “ I got pulled over. Wasn’t paying attention.”

“ You ?” Funny how everyone said that at once.

“ Yes , me.” Profiling wasn’t supposed to be a thing, but it was. It didn’t help that most of the cops in Skilletsville had long memories. And seeing me behind the wheel of a car I didn’t normally drive had pinged this one’s radar.

Wolf blinked. “ Which car had tags?”

“ The stolen one.”

Jackson sat back down. “ How’d you work around the registration?”

“ Wait , which car was he driving?” Wolf needed to catch up.

“ I was driving the rebuild.”

Wolf settled down, then glared at me. “ The rebuild?”

I nodded. Yes . The one with the drugs in it. Remember ?

Bear chuckled. “ The fact he’s right here proves something, doesn’t it?”

No , it didn’t. “ I’d have been screwed if Isobel hadn’t stepped in.”

“ And she’s still stepping in. She told me you were, and I quote, helping her pick up a part for her steering column that someone broke this morning .”

“ Tell them when and where she told them that,” I prompted. Because that was going to screw us. Me . There’s no us when shit goes down because of RICO and the money the club was tangled in.

His grin turned sour. “ Harrisburg . But I called Grease . We owe him two grand.”

The load on my shoulders eased so quickly I felt light-headed. “ Thanks , man.”

“ I figured I’d better help you get your stories straight before they arrest you. Isobel’s on board. You’re going to have to keep her now, you know that, right?”

There was no keeping her if she didn’t want to be kept. He knew that. Everyone in this room knew that.

Jackson grinned. “ She lied for you? Good woman. Can I meet her?”

“ No !” My denial was quick. One grin and a wink from him later, and Isobel wouldn’t remember my name.

My no was almost as quick as Wolf’s , “ You’re married.”

“ Gotta make friends for my wife. This Isobel sounds like the right kind of woman.”

“ She’s closer to Zoe’s age,” Bear told him.

“ Even better. Zoe and Lily need a third in their pack to keep them out of trouble.”

There was no keeping those two out of trouble. But I didn’t say what I was thinking. I had things to live for, like my son.

“ Alibi covered, what other trouble did you get into?” Wolf asked.

Like any of this was my fault? Well … aside from trying to do something nice for Isobel , which shouldn’t count because if Whoosh had just taken the right car, none of this would have snowballed like it did.

Jackson tapped on his fingers. “ Whoosh’ll get credit for one kill, you the other. Good work, except next time, maybe dispose of, or make the bodies disappear, okay? There was a dumpster right there.”

That’s what he was most concerned with?

Wolf was a bit more circumspect. “ You got an alibi. Whoosh will have been here all night. Bear , would you pass that along?”

Bear nodded.

“ Is our dealer good?”

Our ? Both Wolf and I stared at Jackson . It was his decision we stay in the drug trafficking business even after the club had enough businesses and assets to keep going without it.

“ What ? Do you forget who I am?”

Christ . Sometimes , I forgot he was Wolf’s Boss now and ran the region.

It was still too new. And him being here bossing people around wasn’t any different than before, so many of us still called him Boss .

He was just a bit higher of one. “ He’s good.

Threatened to kill Whoosh for not having his product, but I fixed that. ”

“ Excellent . One of the gang members saw you and Whoosh , right?”

I nodded. That was a problem .

“ Bear ? We need to return his ID to him.” Jackson winked as he said it.

If it wasn’t so deadly serious, I’d laugh. Bear and visits usually didn’t go well.

“ Take Griz with you,” Wolf ordered.

And with that, there likely would be no witnesses left. I breathed a little easier, except for one thing.

“ And Isobel ?”

“ She’s gold in my book,” Bear grunted.

“ I thought you two hated each other?” Wolf had picked up on their bickering earlier.

“ She’s ballsy enough to poke a bear, and can sip whiskey with him while doing it. If Sketch hadn’t fucked her first, I might consider making a play.”

If he did, he was a dead man.

He pointed a finger at me. “ You got it bad, sucker .”

I sent him a non-verbal “fuck you” with my middle finger.

Jackson clapped his hands together. “ Done and dusted. Time to party.” It was always time to party with him.

Bear led the parade out the door. Jackson lingered for a moment when he saw Isobel sitting with Smoke .

He bent slightly at the waist and held out his hand as he introduced himself. “ Name’s Jackson , yours?”

As if he didn’t know.

“ Isobel .” She shot me a look of panic. I sent her a slight nod, indicating he was mostly harmless. She held out a hand to shake his. Of course, he turned it over and kissed the back of it. My fists curled. If that son of a bitch …

He grinned at her, then helped her up from the couch. “ Sketch over there has good taste.” He dropped her hand and exited with Bear in tow.

Wolf hesitated just long enough to acknowledge Isobel . “ One drink at the bar before you two leave. I want to make sure everyone sees you.”

After he left, Isobel looked at me with desperation in her eyes and one hand over her stomach. “ No more whiskey, please?”

“ No whiskey. I promise.”

And held to that. I introduced her to the club one person at a time. By the time I was done, she was dragging. “ I’ll drive you home.”

In her car, she took inventory of her things. Her backpack was fine, laptop worked, purse was intact, and despite losing all her clothes, she seemed to be bouncing back. Tired , but whole.

Which was a small miracle.

She exhaled. “ What a day.”

It was midnight. Not even twenty-four hours had passed since we first met.

Yet I’d found out more about her in that short time than in five years with my ex-wife.

Isobel was brave, smart, organized, kind, resilient, and most of all, a decent person.

She wasn’t judgmental or condescending. Sure , she could be a smart ass and hold her own against someone like Bear , but she didn’t do it maliciously.

“ What ?” She caught me staring at her.

“ You’re beautiful.”

She grinned, but confusion made it wobbly. “ I have no make-up on, my hair is a mess, and you still say that?”

I nodded. “ Not only beautiful. Perfect .”

Isobel blinked and hastily looked away.

Should I say more? Should I tell her that my heart yearned to hold her in my arms? Should I say exactly how much I admired her?

My phone rang, breaking the spell. I checked the caller ID . It was Sharon .

“ Is Noah okay?”

There was a pause on the other end. “ Can’t you answer the phone like a normal person?”

“ No . It’s midnight, and you’re calling. Either there’s a problem with our kid, or you’re drunk. Which is it?”

“ I’m at the hospital.”

My heart froze in place. I could hardly form words, let alone speak. “ Is he okay?” It came out in a whisper.

“ They’re giving him fluids.”

Okay , that was good. He was alive, and she hadn’t said anything about him dying or anything like that. But I needed a bit more. “ Are you in the emergency section?”

Sharon sighed. “ Walk in, but they moved us to the other side. He won’t stop throwing up. I didn’t know what to do.”

I bit back my accusation; I’d told her to take him in. “ Who’s with him right now?”

“ The doctor.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to yell at her for leaving him, but I figured she couldn’t have moved too far from him. The hospital wouldn’t allow that, would they? “ I’ll be there in…”

Isobel needed to go home. I had no vehicle if she left without me. The guys in the club were all getting blasted with Jackson , and Bear and Griz were on the move.

Isobel put her hand on my arm and motioned for me to start the car.

Apparently , we were doing this together.

“ I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”

Sharon started to say more, but I hung up the phone. Of course, she called right back. “ You always hang up on me.”

“ I’m driving. I’ll see you in ten.” I pressed the end button, lowered the volume to vibrate, and then ignored the repeated buzzing of the phone.

“ She’s going to be pissed.”

“ Let her.”

If she’d have taken him in earlier when we talked in the first place, maybe it wouldn’t have gotten so bad. “ I gave her the copay when?” I knew when, but I needed someone else to corroborate the details.

“ I think it was eight o’clock.”

“ Almost four hours ago.” I squeezed the steering wheel, strangling Sharon’s imaginary neck.

Isobel noticed and stayed silent.

“ Who does that shit?”

There was silence as an answer. Isobel finally spoke up. “ I know you’re not asking me, you’re just angry.”

“ Damn straight I am.”

“ And when we get there?” she prodded.

She had a point. “ I gotta play it cool.” Because if I didn’t, I’d lose custody completely.

Isobel reached across the car and put her hand on my leg. I dropped mine to cover hers. “ Thank you.”

She squeezed my knee. I could’ve lost custody this morning for not showing up in court.

I could’ve been thrown in jail for driving a stolen car with over fifteen grand of product in it.

I could’ve been caught in the alley beating up a gang banger.

I could’ve been arrested on two murder charges.

Too many close calls in one day. Maybe the universe was telling me something?

Maybe I wasn’t a good father?

If I’d have quit the club when Sharon asked, I’d have been the one to take him in today.

He’d have gotten the help he needed sooner.

There was no guarantee that Sharon and I would be together, especially since I could hardly stand her anymore, but Noah would have two parents to take care of him, rather than one unstable parent and a father who might be arrested on murder charges tomorrow.

I didn’t deserve him.

I didn’t deserve Isobel , either.

She made a noise that caught my attention. “ What if someone talks? There were three people with Victor .”

“ They know better.” And Bear and Griz would make certain the ones who knew anything were dead before the sun rose.

“ But …”

“ Iz , the Destroyers cultivate a reputation for a reason. Days like today… people will hear rumors, and think the worst. Everyone has an alibi, but the street will know we do whatever it takes to get the job done. And , that we protect our own.”

“ I’m not yours.”

“ Not yet.” Maybe not ever . That was… “ Iz , I never gave you much of a choice, did I ? And with the problems we’re going to face because of tonight, you should bail. I wouldn’t blame you. But the others would.” That came out badly, but it was accurate.

She thought about what I said, then spoke, “ I know that. Bear , as much as he likes me, wouldn’t think twice about killing me to protect you.”

Even if he knew it would send me into a tailspin I might never survive. I let go of her hand and concentrated on the road.

“ Did you know Victor hit my little sister?”

I didn’t. And her change of subject was working toward a point, so I remained quiet.

“ It wasn’t the first time, but this time was bad enough that she called me. I took off from work two weeks ago, drove into that sketchy neighborhood, and faced down his idiot club member’s gun to help Audrey load the car. We didn’t get all of her stuff.” Her frown filled the pause.

“ Which one pulled a gun on you?” He was a dead man.

“ The one with him tonight. Whoosh shot him.”

“ Good .”

Her laugh was short. “ If there’s an investigation about their murder, who do you think it will point to? Some of Audrey’s things are still in his apartment. Which will involve me, then you because…” she trailed off and motioned between us.

Another valid insight. “ Isobel ? We only met today. I know I have a reputation, but it isn’t for being stupid.”

She deflated into her seat. “ They’re going to ask her questions.”

“ And she’ll tell them the truth, right?”

Isobel nodded. “ And then, they’ll ask me questions.”

I chewed on my lip to stay quiet. She needed to work this out for herself. My life was in her hands, and I was in too deep to threaten her.

Worse ? A part of me expected the worst. From the moment that elevator shuddered to a stop, things had started to go wrong. None of those things was Isobel’s fault.

They were all mine.