Chapter 8: Rebel Revenge: Chapter 8

“Where is she? No, War, I don’t care! Where is she? Fang’s room, right? Fang! You better open that door right now!”

I cracked open an eye at my bestie’s hollering in the hallway and wasn’t at all surprised when the door rattled a moment later.

Fang groaned beside me but got out of bed, padding across the room to yank the door open. “What?” he snapped.

Bliss was taller than me but still no match for Fang. Not that you’d know it, judging by the way she pushed past his massive frame. She stopped short of throwing herself onto the bed with me and clapped a hand over her mouth. “Your face…”

Fuck. Still no makeup.

In the doorway, War growled in Fang’s direction. “That better not have been at your hands, brother.”

Fang gave his prez a look that should have withered him on the spot.

It didn’t, but War put his hands up and backed right off. “Sorry, sorry. I had to ask. She’s my girl’s bestie. So there’s an unwritten rule that I watch out for her in the same way. They’re a package deal.”

Every muscle across Fang’s back was clenched tight beneath his pale, tattooed skin. “I’d never fucking hurt her. You ever say that to me again, and prez or not, you’ll wish you hadn’t.”

I gawked at Bliss. War was no slouch in the scary bad-boy department. I knew Fang respected War as a man, as well as his position. I’d never seen him be anything but one-hundred-percent loyal and respectful to War.

Yet now he was facing off with him.

Over me.

I didn’t know whether to be completely turned on or terrified.

“Should we get some Jell-O out for wrestling?” I joked, trying to lighten the mood. “Sorry, War, I got my money on Fang.”

No one laughed.

Bliss reached out and traced a featherlight stroke over the worst of the bruising on my cheek. “Oh, Rebel.” A tear rolled down her cheek, eventually dripping onto her shirt.

I shook my head violently. “Don’t do that. Please.”

“Okay. War told me about your mom…”

I pressed my fingernails into the palm of my hand, concentrating on that sting instead of the emotion welling inside me. “Shit happens, right?”

What else was there to say? If I said how I truly felt, I’d break down crying again and maybe never stop. I turned away, swinging my legs out of the bed only to realize I was still wearing Fang’s shirt and nothing else. I could practically feel Fang’s gaze on me, completely unrelenting.

“Can you take me home?” I whispered to Bliss.

“I can take you,” Fang said quickly.

I stared at Bliss, imploring her to understand without me having to spell it out.

That was the beauty of having a best friend. She got me without me even having to say anything.

“Of course I can.”

I stood, and she put her arm around my shoulders, guiding me out of the room.

“Pix…”

It was short for Pixie. Bliss had once described me as a coked-out fairy, and I’d kind of always enjoyed that description. It was accurate. I was a tiny woman who had ADHD, a loud voice, a big personality, and did everything impulsively at a million miles an hour. She was wrong about the coke, though. I never touched the stuff, because I didn’t need to. I lived in a permanently buzzed state naturally.

Nothing about me felt buzzed right now. He would have to change my nickname to swamp troll or something of the like. “Let me go, Fang.”

I saw the way my words affected him. He didn’t want to step aside, but he did, clearly hating every minute.

At the last second, I threw him a bone and linked my pinkie finger with his as I passed. “Thank you. For being there for me last night. When I needed you.”

He squeezed my finger but let me go.

At least for now.

Bliss guided me through the clubhouse, and I tried to ignore the shocked gasp that came from Queenie’s mouth when she saw my face.

She mouthed, “Are you okay?”

All I could do was nod, grateful for her concern but hating that they were all seeing me like this.

Bliss put me in the front seat of her car and closed the door, but War stopped her before she got in the driver’s side. He said something I didn’t hear, then put his hands on her little baby bump, rubbing it affectionately, before kissing her mouth.

When they broke apart and moved aside, Fang was all I could see through the windshield. His eyes locked on mine.

I dropped my gaze to my lap, twisting my fingers in the fabric of my T-shirt until Bliss got in and started the car.

“War is staying here to talk to the other men. He wants you to tell them who did this to you so they can take care of it.” She turned the car around on the gravel lot and headed for the gates.

Ice, one of the club prospects, unlocked them and waved us through, but even his eyes glinted with the promise of something dangerous when he noticed my injuries.

I slumped in my seat. “Like I told Fang, I have it handled.”

Bliss looked over at me with the saddest expression I’d ever seen. “I know you’re used to handling your own business. But you don’t have to…”

“I want to.”

She slowly nodded. “Do I know him?”

Them, I corrected silently in my head. But I couldn’t tell her the truth. Caleb was her ex. I’d listened to her talk about how evil and abusive he was.

But I hadn’t recognized any of that in the man who’d sat at the end of my bar that night and called himself by a different name. By the time I’d realized who and what he was, it had been too late.

I could never tell Bliss it was her ex who’d done this to me. She’d blame herself for bringing him into my life, or she’d assume he’d done it to get back at her.

That wasn’t true. At least not entirely. The things Caleb did were for his own sick pleasure, as much as getting back at a woman who had moved on from his abusive games. Bliss had at least one of her three men around her at all times. Especially now she was pregnant. Caleb couldn’t get to her.

I’d been a weak, easy target.

“Have you heard anything about your mom?” Bliss asked gently.

I shook my head, but then realized I didn’t even know where my phone or my purse was. “Shit. I think I left my purse at the courthouse. My clothes are all still at the hotel as well. Fuck, they’ve probably thrown them all out since I was only booked in for one night. Could I borrow your phone? I need to call the police. They might have been trying to get a hold of me.”

She nodded at her phone sitting near the gearshift. “Of course. As soon as you’re done, I’ll call Nash or Vincent and get one of them to go get your stuff from the hotel. They can go to the courthouse too, and see if your purse was handed in.”

I looked up the phone number for the Providence Police Department and bounced my leg nervously while I waited for someone to pick up. It rang four times before a woman introduced herself as Officer Lehey.

“Yeah, hi. My mother died…” I ran my hand through my hair as my throat threatened to close up. “She was at the courthouse, getting married yesterday when she collapsed…”

“Hold on a moment, please. I’ll patch you through to the detective working that case.”

Bliss glanced at me and gave me a questioning thumbs-up. I tried to return it, but it was half-assed at best. She went back to driving, and I rested my head back on the seat and closed my eyes, trying to keep it together long enough to speak to the detective.

His voice was bristly when he barked his name and job title down the line. Detective Simon Richardson, Senior Detective with the Providence Police Department. “I understand your mother was one of the deceased at the courthouse yesterday. Your name?”

“Rebel Kemp.”

There was a shuffling of papers. “You were there at the time of their deaths? Your name isn’t on any of this paperwork.”

“Well, no, it’s probably not because I didn’t speak to any of the officers there.”

“Was there a reason for that?”

I didn’t like his tone, but there were things I needed to know. “I want a copy of my mother’s autopsy report. I want to know what she overdosed on.”

“We’ll need you to come down to the station immediately, Miss Kemp.”

I scrunched my face. “Can’t you just email it to me?”

“There’s more that needs to be discussed than just your mother’s autopsy report.”

“Like what?”

“Like why you left the scene of a crime without talking to police, perhaps?”

I ground my molars. Fuck the Providence police. This was what they were always like. Fucking assholes. I was not in the mood for it.

Apparently, he didn’t like my silence, because I hadn’t even gotten a chance to reply when he barked down the line again. “This is a very serious matter, young lady. So wherever you are right now, it would be best if you changed course and drove immediately to the station.”

I blinked at Bliss.

“What?” she whispered.

“He’s demanding I go down to the station. He just young ladyed me.”

“Oh, hell no.” Bliss knew exactly how I felt about men who liked to throw their weight around. “Condescending prick.”

“Miss Kemp? I’ll expect you here in the next fifteen minutes then, shall I?”

I snorted. “No, Detective Richardson. You shall not.”

He huffed out an annoyed breath. “You’ve been given a direct instruction by a police officer. So I would inquire as to why you think you can ignore it?”

Oh, this guy was really starting to piss me off. Which, frankly, felt nice because it didn’t come with the desire to cry.

I felt a lot more like my old, sassy self when I replied, “Because I’m currently not wearing any panties, and I don’t think I’m in the mood for a Sharon Stone, Basic Instinct replay, even if I do have the cutest little snatch around. Pity for you, you’d cream yourself over it.”

Bliss turned to me with huge eyes. “You did not just say that.”

I shrugged and made no attempt to cover the phone. “He was pissing me off.” But then I went back to Detective Dickhead, who was spluttering down the line.

I rolled my eyes. “Relax. I’ll come down to the station, Richards. No need to get your knickers…or lack of, in my case, in a knot. Learn some manners though, would you?”

I ended the call and tossed the phone down where I’d found it.

Bliss took a corner, shaking her head with quiet laughter. “You amaze me.”

I yawned and looked at the car clock. “Is that time right? Is it seriously nine?”

Bliss nodded. “War wanted me to wait ’til ten to go over to the clubhouse to find you, but at eight I couldn’t wait anymore. I wish you’d come back to our place last night.”

But I couldn’t have. I couldn’t deflect any of my friends off with cuddling the way I had with Fang. And Bliss’s men were just as dangerous, if not more so. If you caught Vincent on a bad day, he was nothing less than a completely psychotic killer. He loved Bliss—and me, by law of the best friend code—so normally I just found him amusing. But he wouldn’t hesitate to take the one thing I truly needed.

Caleb’s head on a stick.

It needed to be mine.

“Can we get coffee?” I asked. “My head is fuzzy…” With murderous thoughts. I wasn’t sure coffee would truly help, but it couldn’t hurt.

She pulled over at the Starbucks on the Saint View-Providence border, and I graciously waited in the car to spare the rest of the customers my panty-free, oversized T-shirt getup. The time ticked on, my headache growing with every second that passed, until Bliss finally emerged, holding two huge cups.

When she was back in the car, I took one from her gratefully, and then we were back on the road to my apartment. It was odd to see kids playing in the communal area, like their entire worlds hadn’t been ripped to shreds in the space of seven days. I hoped they never had to feel the way I did, with shit piling on top of shit.

But these were kids from the wrong side of the tracks, just like I was.

So their lives were hardly charmed. Violence and poverty and death would be what they grew up with.

All the more reason to never have kids ,if you asked me.

I went to grab my purse and keys, but of course, I didn’t have those. “Do you have that spare key to my apartment?”

Bliss flicked the keys dangling from her ignition. “Right here.” She switched the car off. “I’ll come up with you.”

We walked slowly, side by side, both of us sipping our coffee.

“Do you truly have no panties on?”

I smiled around my steaming cup. “It’s pretty breezy down there.”

“So you and Fang hooked up again?”

I shook my head. “No. Not last night.”

“No one would judge you if you had, you know. You went through something really big yesterday, and if you went seeking comfort, no one would blame you.”

I blew over my coffee, trying to cool it enough to drink, debating over how much to tell her. But she was my best friend, and the words just came out. “I don’t think I’ll be doing that anymore. Not with him. Or anyone.”

Bliss stopped and put her hand on my arm. “He…the person who hurt you, I mean…he…” Her eyes filled with tears.

“Raped me, Bliss. You can say it.”

A sob burst from her mouth, and she dug her fingers into my skin. “Tell me who, Rebel. I swear, I won’t even tell Vincent and the others, I’ll kill him myself.”

I decided to be honest. “I’m not playing around when I say I can’t let you do that, Bliss. Because I’m going to.”

She dug her white teeth into her bottom lip. “You aren’t just saying that, are you?”

“No.”

“I’ll help you hide the body.” She was dead serious.

I glanced at her and burst out laughing. “Bliss!”

“What? I will! I’d do anything for you.”

Just like I’d do anything for her.

We took the last flight of stairs up to my apartment, but I flinched when three men stepped out from against my apartment door.

Bliss picked up my hand and squeezed it, steadying me. “Officers. What can we do for you? That’s my friend’s apartment you’re loitering in front of.”

All three of them looked to me, but it was the oldest one who spoke, a man with graying hair at his temples. “Rebel Kemp?”

“Yes,” I murmured.

“We’re here to escort you down to the police station.” His gaze slow-rolled over my bare legs. “Detective Richardson said you should put panties on first.”

A trickle of worry spread down my spine. “Do I have a say in the matter?”

His eyes narrowed. “Not unless you want me to arrest you and take you in wearing handcuffs.”

What the hell?

“Handcuffs!” Bliss yelped. “You can’t do that. She hasn’t done anything wrong. I’m calling a lawyer.”

“Great. Tell him to meet us at the station, because we aren’t waiting around for him to get here. Miss Kemp? Do you plan to put your panties on so we can leave or am I taking you in as is?”

I ground my molars. Fucking assholes. “Wouldn’t you just love a peek at my coochie?” I walked past and patted him on the chest. “She bites, though.” I snapped my teeth at him and was deeply satisfied when he flinched away.

I used the spare key I’d given Bliss to open the door, and slipped inside, quickly pulling on underwear and clean clothes. Despite my bravado, I really wasn’t in the mood to be arrested, so I made it snappy, shoving my feet into white sneakers without bothering with socks.

Back in the hallway, Bliss had the phone clutched to her ear. When I emerged, she looked over, a fierce expression on her heart-shaped face. “I’ve got Liam on the phone.” She stared at the officers; her words sharp as she practically spit them out. “Liam Banks? He’s a friend of ours, and a lawyer. A really fucking good one.”

It had been a while since I’d seen Bliss so worked up she swore at a police officer. She needed to settle down though, because I did not want her pregnant ass thrown in jail for obstructing justice or something. Her guys would kill me.

“We’re well aware of Mr. Banks and his reputation,” the office replied dryly. “Trust us.”

I’d only met Liam once, when one of Bliss’s guys, Vincent, had been kidnapped and tortured. We’d joined forces with him and some others to rescue him, because we all knew the police wouldn’t do shit. But judging by the officer’s irritation, Liam was a thorn in their side.

Which only made me like the man more. “Tell Liam I’m looking forward to catching up with him over stale police station coffee and donuts.” I poked the officer in his round belly. “Assuming you haven’t already eaten them all, that is?”

“You’re pushing your luck, Miss Kemp. Let’s go.”

Bliss widened her eyes at me, but I was enjoying sassing the officers. Was it smart? No. But it felt normal, and right now, normal was welcome.

Plus, I had the advantage of being tiny. Barely over five foot. Everyone underestimated me and assumed I was no threat, but it worked in situations like this. They probably already would have slapped cuffs on a man.

But I followed them downstairs and into the back of a squad car. It took mere minutes to get across town to Providence, and even less time to find myself marched straight through the station to an interview room. I grinned at officer tubby tummy. “VIP treatment, huh? No waiting in line. I feel so important.”

He pointed at the table with two seats on either side. “Sit.”

“Say please.”

His gaze narrowed. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

“Immensely,” I said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

He clearly hadn’t received the memo on sarcasm because he took it literally. “Good. Enjoy yourself now, while you still can. Because in a minute, you’re going to be accused of murder, and boy am I going to enjoy wiping that fucking grin off your face.”

The smile faded.

He chuckled as he walked out. “Yeah, exactly like that.”