Page 24 of Rust and Bloom

"So…" I start. Lookin' down at her sweet face. She's beaming with happiness. "I need to tell you somethin'."

"Should I be worried?" she asks.

"No." That isn't a lie. But also not the truth, either. "Not worried. But… it matters, I think. Because it might be the reason Colt left."

"What do you mean? I thought they left because you were gonna kick his ass?"

"Yeah, probably. But there's this other thing."

Savannah is squintin' at me now. "What other thing?"

"You see, Brick and them—most of the club, maybe. I'm not sure, actually. But Brick, for sure, and Badlands was⁠—"

"For fuck's sake, just spit it out, Legion."

I blow out a breath. "People—meanin' your brothers—thought Badlands was involved in… child exploitation."

"What?"

Shit. I was half hopin' that she'd kinda heard the rumor and just blew it off because I couldn't possibly be involved in somethin' like this.

No such luck.

"Yeah. So Cash informed me of this. Just this morning. That people think Badlands is a place where they… abuse kids."

She and I just stare at each other. Because she's waitin' for me to say it's not true, and I can't. Not right now.

So instead, I say, “The thing is, Savannah, Cash and Colt might be right. In fact, something is definitely goin' on with Badlands. I guess… we should maybe sit down."

Very softly Savannah says, "OK." And then she leads me over to a spot by the river where there's a rustic round picnic table, the wood scratchy, and aged, and gray.

And this is where I fill her in on the last month. Everything from the moment I rode away from the Book of Legion.

I tell her about the almost-siege.

I tell her about Mike and the Bakken formation.

I explain how the roads work, and the black budget stuff.

I tell her about Marcus at that club down by Miles City. I don't tell her the whole thing. I don't say it was a boy and I don't mention the age. I just say underage and leave it at that.

"Are you fuckin' kidding me?" she says.

"I wish I was, Savannah. I hate the man, but… up until this mornin' it was the kind of hate you could walk past, ya know? You could shrug it off and still survive. It's not like that anymore."

"What are you guys gonna do?"

"Well, that's all Cash now. This Marcus problem? He's takin' it personal."

"Oh, I bet he is. And he's roped you into helpin', I take it?"

I nod, then tell her what Cash told me. That everyone knows that Badlands does kids.

Her eyes dart away from mine. Lookin' off into the distance. But they don't stare blankly. They're dartin' side to side a little. "Is this where you tell me it's all a lie?"

Dread sets in slow. I don't want to have this conversation. Because once I say it, it's real, and I can't take it back. That's the thing about truth—you say it out loud and it becomes permanent.

"I wish I could, Savannah. God, I wish I could tell ya it's all a lie and we could leave it at that. But there's somethin' there that I didn't know about until this mornin', and now I can't unknow it, and that's the problem with knowin' things—it makes you responsible for 'em whether you want to be or not."