Guilt curdled her stomach. “You can do those things with him another time. Maybe Connie can bring you back here tomorrow.”
A tear rolled down Ty’s cheek. “Doesn’t he want to see me?”
“Hey, bud.” Wincing, Zane eased himself down on the stairs leading to the second floor. He wore a long-sleeved shirt under his cut that hid all the bruises, save for the one on his cheek and the fresh cuts on his hands.
Ty ran into his arms. “Mom said you were sleeping and you weren’t feeling well.”
“Yeah, well, we can’t be Batman all the time.” He ruffled Ty’s hair and his eyes flicked to Evie. “We got time to check out the bikes?”
“Of course.”
Zane clasped Ty’s hand and led him outside. Eyes tearing, Connie watched them go and shook her head.
“They’re so good together. You can’t…”
“I won’t.” A sad smile tugged the corner of her lips as she watched them go, walking with the same gait, Ty’s small hand clasped tight in Zane’s palm. “I don’t think I could even if I tried. I was so worried that Zane wouldn’t want to be involved in his life, but I have a feeling he would follow Ty no matter where we went. He said he would hand in his cut to be with us … leave the life…”
“Speaking of which…” Connie pointed to the floor. “Do you still want to find out about the mysterious woman in the dungeon? There’s nobody downstairs right now.”
Evie clenched her hands by her side. Did she want to go down there? Did she really want to know? She could just ask Zane, but it would bring up all the issues and emotions again. And yet woman’s life could be at stake. After confronting Jagger, feeling the power of her anger, she wasn’t as afraid of the Sinners as she had been before. She wasn’t a victim. If she was even going to consider being part of this world, she needed to understand it. And if they were doing something that was morally wrong, if they were hurting innocent people, she needed to know that, too.
She reached out, gave Connie’s hand a squeeze. “I need you to run interference. I’ll just be five minutes.”
Connie raced outside and Evie headed into the kitchen and then down the stairs to the basement. The lights were still on, illuminating the open space. She skirted around the pool table, taking care not to knock over the beer bottles lining the edges and the ashtrays full of butts. Smoke lingered in the air, and the floor was awash with hoodies, pizza boxes and crumpled newspapers.
Heart thudding, she made her way to the far end of the game room and knocked on a metal door beside a long, dark hallway. “Hello?” She waited and knocked again.
No answer.
She moved down to the second door and knocked, speaking louder this time. “Hello? Is anyone in there?”
“Who’s that?”
Evie startled at the sound of a woman’s voice and fought back a wave of nausea.
“Evie. My name is Evie. Are you okay?”
She heard the scrape of iron on concrete, the thud of feet, and then the woman’s voice, louder now.
“Evie? You a sweet butt? House mama?” She had a harsh voice, grating and hard. “Did they send you to look after me in case I’m on the rag or PMSing or some other woman thing that’ll scare the shit out of them?”
“No. I’m just … visiting.”
The woman barked a laugh. “Visiting? This ain’t no tourist attraction. You coming in?”
“No. I can’t.” She drew in a ragged breath. “What’s your name? Did they hurt you?”
Silence. And then the woman’s voice softened. “I’m Doreen. What is this? Why are you here?”
“I just…” Why was she here? “I heard they had a woman in the dungeon and I wanted to know if it was true, and maybe, I thought I could get you out.”
“Ah.” Doreen gave a heavy sigh. “You’re not part of the MC, are you?”
“No.”
“Didn’t think so. You sound like a good person. You got a nice voice, sweet and soft. Kinda innocent like. You got kids Evie?”
“Yes. I have boy. He’s eight years old.”
Doreen gave a little sob. “Me too. I got a little boy. He’s just learning to walk. I miss him something fierce.”
Evie’s heart squeezed in her chest. “Who’s looking after him?”
“He lives with my mom. Viper killed his dad. I came to the morgue in Conundrum to see my Axle one last time. That’s when the Sinners took me.”
“Which Sinner?” Her voice dropped to a whisper, but the woman heard her.
“The dark one with the long hair is the one who caught me. I think his name is Zane.”
Evie covered her mouth to stifle her moan.
“They thought Viper would pay to get me back ’cause I was wearing his old lady cut,” Doreen continued. “But I told ‘em, Viper doesn’t care about me. He told me that the first time he threw me on his bed. Told me I was nothing but a place for his dick.”
“Oh, God.” She sucked in a sharp breath. “I’ll do everything I can to get you out of here. I’ll call the police…”