Page 45 of Savior
“I went to their club house. There were nineteen of them there that night. A few of them showed up with three strung out prostitutes. One barely conscious… They said exactly what that letter says. The party’s here…” I don’t want to give her the filthy details, I can tell by the look on her face that she gets where I’m going with this. “That third woman wasn’t able to consent to anything.”
“Oh my God.” She whispers, her eyes drifting back down to the letter in her hands. “Legion was there? He took part in…in that?” she sounds utterly disappointed as she asks, and a wave of jealousy hits me like a fucking freight train.
Why the fuck does she seem to hold Legion in any fucking regard, to the point of actually being thisdistraught over the idea of his involvement in the debauchery that night? I can’t stop myself…
“How many times have you and Legion met?”
She looks up at me as if I just insulted her. “Why are you asking me that?”
“As far as I know, you met him once at the bonfire, and once in your shop. A collective twenty minutes? Why are you so resistant to the fact that he’s fucking scum?” I step closer to her. “He drops a couple hundred bucks in your shop, months ago, makes a few fucking inuendoes about fucking you while he’s there, and he’s just a nice fucking guy? What other kindness has he shown you?”
Her scowl intensifies. “Be careful what you’re implying, Dean. You’re projecting.”
Fuck. I know I am. I trust her loyalty to me implicitly.
I take a breath and continue. “He did kill Preacher. And he saw me get you off that night at Axel’s patch party. That shit he said to you at your shop that day, it was to get to me. He was probably watching the whole fucking time! He instigated that fight at the bonfire. The mental chess game we played that night, back and forth about what he knows I saw that night at the Demons’ Den. He’s clever, and he’s fuckin’ evil, Vanna. He’s thrown that fuckin’ phrase at me a few times now… Hell, even the lackey said those words in the cabin that night.”
She flinches slightly, closing her eyes for a moment, and I almost regret bringing that scum-fuck up. But she persists, evading my questions and seemingly ignoring everything else I just fuckin’ said to her. “Was Legion there that night?”
It twists the fucking knife in my gut a little more.
“No.” I’m forced to admit.
“Then why are you so sure he’s actually the devil you want to make him?” She asks. “You have no proof he’s anything you say he is. Preacher was a suicide. The police said so. And if you actually believed any of this, why am I only hearing of it all, today? Preacher died months ago. Why didn’t you say anything all this time?”
“I see now, that I should have.” I mutter. I’m not going to tell her why. I’m not going to tell her about the bible in Preacher’s office. The page open to Mark 5:9… A passage literallynamingLegion, as well as hinting at his foiled plan. I’m not going to point out the rise of crime in our county in conjunction with his arrival. I just might lose my shit if she keeps defending him like this.
“Yeah. Clearly, you should have said a lot of things.” She folds the letter back up with Legion’s card, and I hold my hand out to take it back. “No. I’m keeping this.” She watches me intently as she grabs her purse off the coat rack and slips it inside. “What? Are you worried I’m going to take this to the police? That I might turn in your precious Lucinda?”
I’m fucked no matter what I say at this point. “No. Just don’t lose it. And don’t let anyone else touch it.” It’s all I’ve got to tie him to Jack.
She slides the purse onto her shoulder. “I have to get to work.”
“Stay the fuck away from Legion, Vanna.” I can no longer keep the growl out of my tone. “Now you know what goes on in that club house.”
“He wasn’t there. You said so yourself.” She reminds me, grabbing her keys.
I want to punch my fist through a fucking wall!
“If that motherfucker comes to your goddamned job, Vanna, I’ll-”
“You’ll see it on your damn security cameras!” she vehemently snaps at me, spinning around in front of the door to shoot me another glare. “Are they still up for my protection? Or have they always served a duel purpose?”
We stare at each other for a moment. I’m at a loss for words.
“I’m nothing like Lucinda. I’m not going to cheat on you. Not with your brother. Not with Legion. Not with anyone.”
“I know that, Vanna.” I sigh, realizing we haven’t been at odds with each other quite like this before. I don’t like the tense feeling it gives me. Jealousy spurs my paranoia.
“You’re the one that’s been keeping secrets this time.”
“Vanna… I was only-”
“Protecting me. I know.” She says with a little sigh of her own. “But you were protecting her, too.”
“Maddie, baby… Not Lucinda.” I try once more. She only looks down at the keys in her hand, as if she doubts my sincerity. It hurts. “Vanna… I fucking love you more than anything in this world… I can’t even fucking breathe without you.”
She glances back at me, a sorrowful expression in her eyes as she places her hand on the door knob, pulling it open. “I love you, too.” The defeated tone in her voice makes my chest tighten with anxiety. “I’ll see you when I get home from work.” She says, then walks out the door.
