Drex nods, but he remains stoic… expressionless.
“That file has everything we gathered on Adam Mason before we found out he was a fed working inside Benny’s crew. It has the ties to your father’s crew. Was it him that turned on your father instead of you or something?” Drex asks her, confusing me.
I might should have asked about that file. Are they talking about the fed Benny killed?
“Nah,” Sarah says nonchalantly. “Mason was dirty. He was working both sides, giving the feds just enough to seem legit, while playing in my father’s crew like an evil bastard. Just knew him from reputation. He went by Jeff at that time.”
“So why the file?” Drex asks.
“I want to know what he was really doing with the Hell Breathers. He was loyal to my father.” She looks up, and she flashes a smile at me again. “You look better. Glad to see you up and about, looking much stronger than what I left you.”
I nod, but don’t speak.
“Why the face-to-face?” Drex asks her, drawing her attention back to him.
Sarah smirks. “Herrin has pissed me off, but I know you boys have split up. I want to know if you share his interest in seeing me dead.”
Drex shakes his head. “You saved Eve. No beef with me.”
She nods like she expected that answer. “Also want to know if you want to eliminate Herrin yourself or if you want me to do it for you. Free of charge, of course.”
Drex mutters something under his breath, then shakes his head. “This is ours. Not your problem. What do you want with a dead man’s file?”
She hugs the file to her chest. “This is mine. Not your problem,” she says, echoing his words. “Just a warning, if Herrin comes for me, he’ll be my problem, and I’ll make him go away. Understood?”
She stares at him like she’s challenging him to object.
“Fair enough,” he says instead. “He’s more focused on me at the moment, though.”
Drex tugs my hand, backing toward the door, but Sarah speaks before we can leave.
“Does he hate me?” Sarah asks quietly, causing my heart to clench for her.
Drex tenses, and I realize this entire thing was more to find out about Snake than anything else. The pain she’s trying to mask is starting to bleed through, becoming visible.
“You should have told him the truth. He wouldn’t have cared, Sarah. He loved you,” Drex tells her coldly. “You know Snake has a major issue with trust.”
She nods solemnly, looking down. “We all have our reasons for the secrets we keep,” she whispers.
Pulling out of Drex’s grip, I walk over to her. She startles a little, but relaxes when I wrap my arms around her in a hug.
She returns the embrace with one hand, keeping the file clutched to her with the other. When I pull back, she winks at me, her chipper mask back in place. But I’ve seen it fractured. She’s hurting and trying her best to hide it.
“Bit of free advice,” she says, looking over at Drex who is keeping a wary eye on her, “Marshall has been having a couple of guys watching your girl’s childhood home. He’s looking for the mother. Her disappearance is what made him go underground. If you want to draw him out, now you know how.”
Drex cocks his head to the side, and he reaches out his hand for me, silently asking me to come back.
“Thank you,” I tell Sarah, watching as she smiles at me again.
“One more thing,” she says, winking at me as she skips by me, moving by Drex next on her way to the door, “teach your girl to shoot a gun. She sucks.”
Drex’s eyes dart to mine, widening in a little horror, as Sarah leaves that hanging in the air and walks out. I give Drex a tight smile.
“When the fuck did she see you shoot?”
I just shrug. “We all have our secrets, right?” I ask nervously.
He narrows his eyes on me, but when I step into him, he holds me against his body, brushing his lips over my head. Uncle Marshall is watching my house…
“I know what to do,” I tell Drex, leaning against his chest.
“Mm?” he mumbles, resting his chin on top of my head as he holds me.
“We use me as bait. It would out Ben or Marshall or both if we’re really lucky.”
He snorts derisively. “Fuck no. Never gonna happen.”
Chapter 41
DREX
Flowers. Lots of fucking flowers.
I can’t believe I let her and the guys talk me into this. I’m supposed to be keeping her safe instead of dangling her at the end of a hook like fresh bait for any shark that wants to take a bite.
I also can’t picture Eve sleeping in a twin bed that has flowers all over the comforter like a pre-teen. But I’m staring at her old bed, studying the very different past she has from her future.