When Petey answered the door, he looked unkempt. His eyes were bloodshot. His facial hair grown out and messy. He looked like he had been kidnapped for years and just returned home.
“You look like shit,” Blaine said.
“So do you in that leather cut.”
“Are you going to invite me in?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Inside, the two stood there, nodding. They finally caved and gave each other a hug.
“You know, I never got the chance to say I’m sorry to you,” Petey said. “For what happened.”
“Sorry could never bring them back.”
“I know. That’s the worst, right? All these people fucking telling you these fucking things you don’t care about.”
“That was years ago,” Blaine said. “I’m not here to grieve.”
“You know, I have to be bold and ask, what the fuck are you doing here? I’m a cop. You’re an outlaw. I have a badge. You have a leather cut.”
“You told me Vin was dead, Petey. Said he got hit on the street.”
Petey tensed up. He took a step back. “Yeah, I did. I got, uh, some bad information.”
“Who told you?”
“Friend of a friend,” Petey said. “Vin came out and ruffled a lot of feathers. Old to new. Pushing hard at everyone.”
“What about you? Did he push you?”
Petey laughed. “Look at me. What do I have to lose?”
Blaine nodded. On the surface it looked like Petey had nothing to lose. But he did. He had been pushed around and forced out of promotions and raises for years. Because he was a loser drunk. He had been in plenty of trouble after his wife passed and a guy like Petey was the type who would try and take the world down with him when he went. Not to mention if Vin was giving him hard cash. Petey could go lose himself one last time before calling it a life.
“Good point,” Blaine said. “I need to know who told you that. It’s causing me a lot of heat.”
“With the other outlaws?”
Blaine grinned. “You never understood it, did you?”
“You want to play cowboys, Blaine, go ahead. Ride motorcycles and drink whiskey. Whatever. That’s your business now. You used to care about the law.”
“I saw what that law did to good people. Like you. Like my family.”
Petey went to a cabinet and opened it.
Blaine readied himself as Petey reached into the cabinet.
But Petey took out a bottle of whiskey. He reached again and took out two shot glasses.
“Old times,” Petey said. “Just one, okay?”
“Okay, Petey.”
Petey poured the shots. “Blaine, we had some crazy nights. Working those streets was like being in a different world. It left you disconnected from the real world. You know? A playground during the day was for the kids. I’d stand there and watch kids go down slides, struggle with the monkey bars, everything. Then at night, it was a different world. This one time… I saw a kid drop a toy car, right? He left it there. He forgot about it. Twelve hours later, someone was shot in the same spot. The bullet casing was an inch from the toy car. That’s our life.”
Petey handed Blaine the shot glass.
“It was our life,” Blaine said. “We saw good guys, bad guys, in between guys. A lot of those guys were us. Right? Good, bad, in between. Never knowing who the enemy was or why.”
“Cheers,” Petey said.
They each took their drink.
“Here, I’ll take that,” Petey said.
“I’ll keep it,” Blaine said.
Petey was setting up the scene.
Blaine wasn’t stupid.
Petey nodded. “Okay, Blaine. Your intel is better than mine. Good for you. Whatever you think you’re going to stop, you won’t. It’s too deep. It’s too far.”
Blaine stepped toward Petey. He grabbed the guy’s shoulder. “But I’d rather be dying for what I believe in, Petey, than die for what I’m told.”
With that, Petey shut his eyes.
Blaine stepped back, took out a gun, and pulled the trigger.
***
Blaine had nothing to say. He appreciated that Miller and Gaige didn’t feel the need to go in and check to make sure Petey was dead. As far as Blaine was concerned, all old ties were gone now. The facts were simple. Petey, his old partner, was dead. Vin, the man who murdered Meghan and Janey was out for blood still. As far as Meghan and Janey went? They were dead. The guilt would never go away, more for Janey because Blaine just wanted to do good by her. Yet he should have just let Meghan take Janey and go. How bad would it have been for Janey? Yeah, some shitty situations and a tough life, but hell, she’d have a fucking life.
What about Jessa?
That was present and future.
She was going to be the mother of Blaine’s child. Nothing else mattered but that. Did he love her? Yeah, he loved her. Enough to commit to her? That was still for the taking. The last person Blaine tried to commit to ended up with a bullet in her head. He’d rather hurt Jessa by not loving her than find her dead because of his existence.
If the day couldn’t get anymore twisted, the second Blaine turned to pull into the lot, he saw Chief Ethan and two officers waiting.
Miller throttled and sped forward.
All the guys were outside waiting as Ethan leaned against the side of his SUV, arms crossed.