Make It Right (21 page)

Royal stared at her for a moment. “You're insane. Missy is not capable of murder or arson. Lily told us the truth, she stood there and swore it to me. What possible reason does she have to lie?” He looked over at Train. “Take him.”

“Take me? What the fuck?”

“Don't make me shoot you to get you to cooperate,” Train warned.

“No. Fuck that, no.” Amelia struggled but Danny held on to her.

“Relax Amelia, we're just going to talk to him. Right, Royal?”

“That's right,” Royal replied and Amelia knew that he was lying. She knew that he believed James was the one who'd killed Fiona and Taylor, and he was ready to extract his pound of flesh, maybe even literally.

“Bullshit. You're going to kill him. He's not the one, Royal.”

“And you expect me to believe that my wife is? I know that Missy is a handful at times but she...”

“She's a diabolical bitch.” Amelia cut him off. “She enjoys terrorizing anyone she deems below her and that's mostly everyone. She's a monster and you created her. She fucking knew about you and Fiona. I saw it on her face. She didn't even react when Harris told her.”

“Get him out of here,” Royal told Train. “I know that you and Missy have never seen eye to eye. I know that you're emotional right now.” He turned to Amelia. “But you're going to want to shut your mouth when it comes to my wife.”

“She killed them. She cut them with Train's fucking knife. She'd have had access to it and to the safe where the gun that shot Earl was found.”

“Jesus Christ, you're sick Amelia.” Royal's expression hardened. “Delusional.”

“You'd better watch it, Royal. You're talking about my old lady.” Danny's words seemed to vibrate against her back, he was holding her so close. “And she might not be crazy. If Rosa actually saw more than she admitted that night, let's hear what she has to say.”

“She's gone. The house is cleared out.” Amelia hated to admit it, but there was no way to hide it. She watched helplessly as Train muscled James out the front door. “He didn't do this, Royal. I know that you don't want to see it, but you have to. Enough innocent blood has been spilled. Please.”

“I promised you that the person who was responsible for taking them from us would die, and I keep my word. I'm afraid that this has all been too much for your mind to take, Amelia. I'm sorry for that. I really am.” Amelia knew that there was a but coming, and she knew that some way, some how it would end up in a choice for Danny between her and Nightshade. It had been stupid of her to think that Royal would ever see reason when it came to Missy. Her throat tightened as she realized that she was about to lose more than just James. “I've already lost one child, I can't risk losing another.”

“She wouldn't hurt a child.” Danny spoke up. Amelia could feel the anger rising inside of him.

“But I believe that she would hurt Missy.” Royal cleared his throat. “I know that you love her, Danny, but I can't take the risk. Keep her away for real this time. Nightshade no longer recognizes her as your old lady.”

“You can't do that.”

“I can and I did. Now, let's go. We've got some work to do.” Royal turned and walked away without another word. Amelia realized that Missy wasn't the only one drunk on power.

“He can't do this.” Danny spoke in a soft voice. “I'm going to fix this, Amelia. I promise. I'm going to make this right.”Amelia simply nodded. She was incapable of words. Incapable of being anything but numb. The moment Danny released her she simply sat down. “I'll be back as soon as I can. I'm going to make it right.”

Chapter Fifteen

The bar light was off. No one besides Nightshade would be there, but Danny saw only the SUV that Train and Royal had driven away in. Something wasn't right. It felt a little bit like being a tattletale, but he pulled out his phone and dialed Buster. He answered on the first ring. “Hey, it's Danny. Why aren't you at the bar?”

“Everyone was having a quiet night. What's up?”

“That's a loaded question.” As quickly as he could Danny recapped the night. His announcement was met with silence. “Are you still there?”

“I'll be at the bar in ten minutes. I'll call Ace. Get in there and make sure that Royal doesn't kill James. Jesus Christ.” Buster ended the call.

Danny had to use his keys to get inside. He headed straight down to the basement and into a room that Nightshade had rarely used. It had once been a storage room. Now it was something else. The scent of blood was the first thing he noticed when he pushed the door open. The second was James suspended from the ceiling by his wrists.

“Took you long enough.” Royal had a bloody knife in his hand.

“Where are Buster and Ace?”

“Don't need them.”

“If this is club business, the club should be here.” Danny moved over to James, reached out and checked his pulse because he wasn't sure that the stripped-down man was even still breathing. There was a pulse, but it wasn't exactly strong. He wasn't even sure that James knew he was standing there. This was fucked beyond repair.

“I said I don't need them. Last time I looked, the President patch was on my chest, not yours,” Royal replied.

“Last time I checked, we voted on things. Took issues to the table.” Danny looked over to Train. “We're a brotherhood, not a monarchy.”

“The son of a bitch who killed my family isn't going to keep breathing.” Royal turned towards James, knife raised, and Danny knew that it would be a killing blow. Danny stepped in front of James. “You'll put your life on the line for his?”

“I'll put my life on the line for what's right. This isn't right. Has be confessed? Have you even listened to a word he said? This isn't justice.” Danny truly believed that he could talk Royal down, even with the crazed look in his eye, but he was wrong. The knife entered his shoulder, a searing pain that was like being burned.

Danny saw the edges of his vision going black and gritted his teeth. “What the fuck are you doing?” Train shouted, the calm he'd been wrapped in only a moment earlier gone. “You just stabbed Danny.”

“He'll live,” Royal replied.

“You crossed a line, man. You crossed a line that can't be uncrossed. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Shut your mouth and just get a bag ready for this fuck.”

“No. No, thank you, I will not,” Train stated. “I'm going to need you to move back, Royal. Give Danny some room.”

“Or what?” Royal demanded. “What are you going to do, Train? You going to shoot me?”

“If he doesn't, I will.” Buster spoke from the doorway. Danny saw that he wasn't alone. He had the rest of Nightshade with him. How long had they been standing there? Long enough, apparently, that both Buster and Ace had their weapons out. “Stand down, Brother.”

Royal held up his hands, took a step back. “You're going to regret this. I'll have your patch for this.”

“You wouldn't have the votes,” Buster said bluntly.

Danny turned away from the two of them staring each other down as James let out a moan of pain. “Hang in there, Monroe. You hear me? Rock and Edge, help me get him down. He's going to need a doctor.”

“No one take him down,” Royal shouted. “That's a fucking order. I am your President, in case you all forgot that.”

“Take him down. Edge, call your sister. She's the closest thing that we've got to a doctor with all that shit you said your father taught her.” Buster told him. Edge hesitated, looked over at Royal, but then took out his phone as James began to cough. “Train, take Royal next door and keep him there until we can sit down at the table.”

Danny pressed a tee shirt to his shoulder and watched as Ace and Rock lowered James down. “Get him upstairs. Careful.” He felt his head go light again. He was not going to pass out. He applied more pressure to his shoulder and the pain made him stumble, but he kept on his feet.

“They've got him,” Buster assured him. “Train's got Royal.”

“You sure that's smart? Royal's always had Train's ear.” Danny demanded.

“Train believes in Nightshade. Royal stabbed you for no good reason. You're either stupid or brave. He could have killed you.”

“I promised Amelia that I wouldn't let anything happen to James. She's lost enough, too much.”

“I won't argue with that, but what she's saying is a little out there. Missy's a cunt, but I don't know if she's a killer.”

“She wouldn't say it lightly. I believe that Lily flipped her story.” Danny sighed.

“Alright, we'll figure it out. I want Jillian to take a look at you, too. Should I call Amelia? You want her here?”

“I want her safe. I'm not sure that she's safe around Royal. If he could stab me... I don't even want to think what he could do to her.” Danny sighed. He also didn't want to talk to her until he could tell her for sure that James was going to be okay.

<#<#<#

There had never been such a tense meeting at the Nightshade table. Sure, they'd all had issues before, but this surpassed anything that they'd experienced. Danny waited for someone to speak once Royal called the meeting to order. It didn't surprise him that Buster was the one who spoke up. “I want to call a vote. A vote for the President patch. I don't think that Royal's head is in the right place to lead us, not when every single one of our moves counts right now.”

“Don't embarrass yourself, Buster. No one is going to second you.” Royal sounded so sure of himself. The craziness from earlier was gone from his eyes and voice; now he just sounded cocky.

“I second the vote.” Danny sat up straighter and met Royal's eyes. “I think Buster's got a point.”

“You're only doing this because I don't want bat shit crazy Amelia around.”

“She's not bat shit crazy.” Danny resisted the urge to pound the table. He needed to stay composed and make this about Nightshade and not his personal life. “You fucking stabbed me. You took it upon yourself to be judge, jury and executioner for Monroe. That's not supposed to be how Nightshade works.”

“He killed Fiona and Taylor.”

“No, he didn't.” Ace spoke up. “I did some quick digging. Got into his bank account. He used his debit card to pay for a room at Greektown. Took out five hundred dollars from an ATM, too.”

“Just because someone paid for a room, doesn't mean that he's actually there. That could be an alibi. There is an eyewitness,” Royal pointed out triumphantly as if Lily Beck's word was worth it's weight in gold. “Lily Beck saw him there that night.”

“Yeah well, Lily Beck isn't exactly a star witness,” Buster interjected. “She's a wishy washy little bitch. And she's shit scared of Missy. Remember the night Missy ran her off? Condemning a man on her word doesn't sit right with me. Doing it behind our backs doesn't sit right with me, either. It's not what a President should do, and deep down, you know that. We could skip the vote if you do the right thing and resign it. Go back to being a Brother without the stress of being a leader.”

“And who is going to take my place? You?” Royal laughed. “I love you, Brother, but no way in hell are you leadership material. No way in hell you can handle dealing with The Millers, and they will not deal with you. They won't deal with any of you. Enough of this talking. Let's just vote on it.”

Danny wasn't sure how the vote would turn out, but that didn't sway him in his choice at all. Royal didn't deserve to wear the President patch. If the vote had been to take his patch away entirely, he'd have voted to do so. He'd violated so much of what Nightshade held sacred.

“All in favor of me being removed as President, raise your hands.” Royal rose to his feet and looked around the table. Danny's heart quickened once hands started to join his. Buster and Ace were no surprise. Neither was Rock. It came down to Train and Edge. Neither man raised their hands. Danny's stomach churned. “You needed a unanimous vote, Buster. I'd like to call for a vote of my own.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Buster leaned back in his chair. “Let me save you the trouble. All in favor of me losing my patch, raise your hands.” Danny was surprised when Edge raised his hand, but he was the only one besides Royal. “Well then, looks like that didn't work out for you, either.”

“No. It didn't.”

“The votes were called. The decision is the decision because we're all equals around here. We all make the decisions. You didn't do that tonight, Royal.” Ace cleared his throat. “Even the suggestion that Missy had something to do with what happened to Fiona and Taylor was enough to have you forgetting every promise that you made. Every promise. That isn't the club I signed up for.”

“It's not the one I signed up for either.” Train looked directly at Royal. “I didn't vote to take your patch. Maybe I should have. I'm not known for always making the right choices. All I do know is you told me that we had everyone's blessing to proceed tonight. To do the things that I did to Monroe.” Train spoke in an even and calm voice. Those who knew him knew that meant he was beyond furious. “We need to ask Missy some questions.”

“Wait. What? No. Absolutely not.” Royal got red in the face, his anger was back.

“Should we vote on it?” Buster questioned. Danny knew how the vote would go if they did and he realized that Royal knew it too.

“If any of you does anything to upset my wife, to put our child at risk, I won't call for a vote. I'll shoot you where you fucking stand. I'll talk to her.”

“And coach her what to say? I don't think so.” Train pulled out his phone. “I'm going to call her and tell her to come here and we'll all have a nice little talk.”

“I'm going to check on Monroe while we wait for her.” Danny got to his feet. Enough time had passed that he needed to call Amelia soon. And there was no way in hell he was calling her before he could tell her that Monroe was going to be just fine.

He found Jillian at the bar, a bottle of tequila in front of her. “Hey Doc, how is he?”

“I'm not a doctor.” She was quick to correct him. Even though she was Edge's sister, he didn't know much about her. To say that she wasn't around often was an understatement, Danny was pretty sure this was only the second or third time she'd been in the bar. “But I think that he's going to be okay. Nothing is broken, or at least not broken badly enough that I can tell without seeing an X-ray. He's deeply bruised over about eighty percent of his body. I imagine he'd be wishing he was dead if I didn't
have him drugged to the gills.”

“Can I see him?”

“Sure. He probably won't be awake. The body needs sleep to heal. If there's someone who can sit with him and keep an eye on him, that would be great.”

Danny's first thought was Amelia, but bringing her to the bar now wasn't an option for any of them. It would be a stream of lighter fluid on the smoldering situation. “I can call Claire.”

“Great. I'd like to take off when she gets here if there's nothing else that you all need.”

“We'll make sure that you get home.” Danny replied. “And we really appreciate you coming out to help us. We won't forget it.”

“I don't expect anything in return. Eddie asked, I came.” She smiled nervously at him and he noticed she jumped as the basement door shut. She relaxed visibly at the sight of Ace which made sense, since she'd know him best because he'd sponsored Edge.

“She'll be here in half an hour,” Ace told Danny. “Apparently it takes a minimum of twenty minutes prep time before she can leave the house.”

“I'll leave the two of you to talk.” Jillian blurted out the words, turned and walked towards the stairs without a backwards glance. Of course she didn't need to look because Ace was looking hard enough for the both of them.

“She said Monroe will be okay. She did good.” Danny smirked. “Gonna give her a reward?”

“What? Wait? No.” Ace shook his head. “It's not like that with us.”

“So that's why you couldn't take your eyes off of her ass? It was a really nice ass.” Danny leaned against the bar, watched Ace try not to react. “You fucking her?”

“No. I said it's not like that. And it's not. It's...” Ace glared at him. “Don't we have bigger things to worry about right now? I need a drink. Maybe a bottle.”

“Pour me one. I've got a feeling that this is going to be a long ass night.”

<#<#<#

Missy was pissed to be there. It was obvious in the way that she stood. They were meeting in the bar, a concession to Royal's anger about the situation. “Go on. You've got questions. Ask 'em.” She tapped her foot against the floor impatiently.

“You heard her. Ask so that I can get her back home in bed where she belongs. Put this foolishness behind us.”

“Alright.” Buster cleared his throat. “Let's get down to it then. Did you have something to do with Fiona and Taylor Mason being killed?”

“Well, that's certainly direct.” Missy looked around the room and let her gaze settle on Royal. “Did I have something to do with it?” A smile crossed her lips. “Seems to me like I'd have been well within my rights if I had. After all, that cunt was fucking my Old Man and smiling in my face.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “She knew he was mine. Fucking bitch.”