"He was with me."
Dammit. Kaylie wasn’t keeping her mouth shut like he’d told her to. The Sheriff leaned down and peered at Kaylie. Devlin gritted his teeth.
"What's that miss?"
"I said, he couldn't have attacked anyone because he was with me."
The Sheriff gave her an appraising look.
"All day and all night."
"Yes."
"Well, be that as it may, I'm going to have to take him in for questioning. Stand up now Mr. McRae and face the bike."
Devlin closed his eyes and forced himself to comply. The bastards were doing this out of spite. It was scare tactics. He hadn't attacked anyone and they knew it.
He felt the cuffs snap closed around his wrists and turned around.
"We'll bring you back for your bike if the charges are dropped."
"Somebody has to come for Kaylie."
Grant slapped his knee.
"Kaylie! That's it. I knew it. Seems like just yesterday you were underage. How old are you sweetheart?”
“I’m eighteen.”
His grin got even wider.
“You sure look all grown up don't you now, darlin'?"
Sheriff Dooley pulled Devlin away just as Grant put his arm over her shoulders solicitously. She looked scared. He looked her over and grinned maliciously at Devlin.
"Don't worry about a thing, Mr. McRae. I'll see the little darlin home."
He felt rage boiling up inside him as he was pushed into the back of the squad car. If he hadn't of been cuffed he would have killed the man. He still might.
He watched as Kaylie followed Grant to the second car. She made eye contact with him through the window, trying to reassure him. She was trying to be brave but he wasn’t fooled.
"I'll go to the clubhouse! Don't worry!"
He gritted his teeth as Grant opened the passenger side door for Kaylie. At least he wasn't making her ride in the back. But if he touched her…
Devlin leaned his forehead against the padded wall separating him from the front and silently screamed.
Chapter 25
Kaylie
They held him for three days. Three awful days during which Kaylie imagined horrible things happening to him. Her mind went wild, picturing every scenario in the book.
All except Dev being guilty.
She'd been true to her word, getting her mother to drive her to the clubhouse as soon as that disgusting Officer Grant had pulled away. The way he'd looked at her… and spoken to her… it was disgusting.
He'd acted as if she was easy, a woman of ill repute. He'd even implied that he'd make sure Dev got out if she'd make nice with him. She'd had to fight back the bile rising in her throat at his lurid insinuations.
But thank God, he hadn't touched her.
She'd kept herself focused by thinking about Dev and what she would say when she got to the clubhouse. She'd never been there before but she knew where it was.
Everyone did.
The building had been cleaner than she'd expected. No trash and she could smell that the hallways had been freshly mopped. It looked like any business, with a shop in the front and a lot of equipment and a high metal fence.
That is, until she got to the bar room. There were people everywhere, bikers mostly. But also a lot of women in various states of undress.
Her cheeks got warm as she looked around. This was where Devlin spent most of his time? It was a far cry from Mae’s bright and cheerful vintage counter tops and booths.
There were two stripper poles in the room and each had a girl hanging off of them, dancing lazily. They weren’t professional dancers, that was for sure. They were just sort of grinding slowly, clearly not working for tips.
Everyone in the room was drunk except her. Except Dev’s third in command. She had nearly wept with relief when he saw her.
Donnie had seen her immediately and been across the room in two seconds flat.
"You shouldn't be here so late. Dev wouldn't like it."
"He's been arrested-they said-"
He'd held up a finger, silencing her.
"Come on, let's find Jack. You can tell us both."
They'd pulled her into a hallway and waited until there was a break in the traffic to and from the bathrooms. Then she heard Jack say the first words she'd ever heard him say.
“Tell us.”
She'd told them everything. Halfway through the story Donnie looked at Jack and said one word.
"Dani."
Jack had nodded and just like that, Donnie was gone.
Kaylie had started crying then. The tension and worry had finally gotten to her. She leaned against Jack's shoulder and cried all over his leather while he held perfectly still.
It was like crying against an enormous tree trunk. Big and strong and utterly silent. But still somehow comforting. Only after she had cried her eyes out did she realize he had lifted one hand and rested it on her shoulder.
When she sheepishly looked up at him he was staring doggedly at the wall, trying to ignore her. She smiled a little at the stoic giant. He wasn’t nearly as terrifying as he looked.
“Thanks Jack.”
He turned his head slightly and stared at her. Then he gave her a nod. That’s when she knew everything would be okay.
Jack didn’t say another word as he took her outside to her mother’s car. But the comforting sound of his bike followed them home.
When she looked out the window in the middle of the night, he was still outside.
Chapter 26
Devlin
They had nothing on him. He knew that. So why did he feel like the fucking sky was falling down around him?
He had to know what was happening out there.
He had to know about his woman.
Did she hate him for this? Had they hurt her? Had they scared her?
If anyone so much as breathed on her wrong, there would be hell to pay.
And since his nickname was the Devil, he’d be more than happy to prove everybody right.
Dev sat in the dim light on the uncomfortable bench making plans. No one had come to see him, but he knew they'd tried. They'd taunted him with that information.
Kaylie had come to this filthy place to see him. They’d made her wait and then not let her in. Jack and Donnie, too.
But they could handle it. He just needed to know that Kaylie was okay. That was what was twisting him up inside.
He didn't even know who had accused him and of what exactly. He had a strong suspicion it was Dani. If they tried to prove that he'd laid a hand on her… they'd have a hard time doing that.
Not only was it not true but any member of the SOS would come forward and take the fall for him. That's if Dani actually had any physical evidence that she’d been attacked, which he highly doubted.
She’d crossed a line though. He didn’t hurt women, but she was banned from the club now. Permanently.
The Spawns had an attorney on retainer. He was coming by later today. He’d sounded almost as pissed off as Devlin was over the phone.
It was pretty clear they were using the trumped up charge against him. They wanted to aggravate him into attacking a police officer. It was entrapment, plain and simple. That was a shady, old school technique.