“You goddamn wanker—”
Grinder stepped in front of me. “This will all come out in the hotwash, Edge. This is neither the time nor the place.”
I stood down but pointed my finger in Rile’s direction. “You better have a fucking good reason why you kept Casper and me in the dark about this.”
Grinder remained between Rile and me. “I don’t think there’s much more we can do here, Edge. You ready to roll?”
The idea that we still hadn’t identified the name referenced when the ranch hand threatened Rebel plagued me. I doubted she misheard, as Rile had suggested she might have.
“Ride back with Casper and me. You can brief me on what went down with Rebel.”
Grinder nodded and handed the key fob to Decker.
“Go on,” said Rile to Jagger and Rage. “I’m going to stay and see what else I can find out.”
I turned away from him, still bloody pissed that he would withhold information from me.
“Edgemon?” he said, motioning me toward him. What I really wanted to do was flip him off, but I stopped myself from doing so.
“What?”
“I was not aware of the FBI’s involvement. I was also unaware of Kick’s affiliation with them. He came to us through Smoke, whose word I trusted—perhaps until now.”
I looked into his eyes and knew he was being honest with me. Rile was not the type of man to shirk responsibility. If he’d done what I accused him of, he would’ve admitted it while, at the same time, defending why he had.
“Understood.”
“Edge?”
“We’re good, Rile.”
He nodded and I walked away.
Casper drove while Grinder briefed me on everything he knew about what had gone down with Rebel, which wasn’t much.
I sent a text to Shadow, who confirmed Rebel was at the main residence with her and Quint.
When I walked inside, Rebel jumped up from where she was waiting at the table and ran over to me.
“Thank God you’re okay,” she said, rushing into my open arms.
“It’s over, sweetness.” The words were out before I realized that wasn’t exactly true. It wasn’t over. There was still the question of who the hell Lynch was. “We have a lot to talk about,” I said, brushing her hair from her face.
“You need to hear my side of the story,” she said, looking over her shoulder at where Shadow remained seated.
“And I shall.”
“Can we go back to the house now?”
“Of course.” I waved in Shadow’s direction, and she gave me the okay sign before waving back.
We were both quiet on our way to the house. So much had happened in the last forty-eight hours, it was almost inconceivable. What we needed more than anything was rest.
“What happens now?” Rebel asked when we walked into the kitchen. I wasn’t sure where to begin to answer that question. Next with what?
“As far as the charges against you, I would imagine there will be a hearing tomorrow. If not then, soon. After which, you’ll be free.”
“Then what?”