Page 75 of Edge

“Dice, watch the door and let me know when she’s coming back,” Phoenix said and lowered his voice. “This is going to be unexpected, so try not to tense. Who killed Evie’s roommate?”

He was right. His question was completely unexpected, and I greatly appreciated the warning. “Muzzle or Snarl. They were both there, but I don’t know which one specifically did it. Why?”

“Incoming,” Dice said.

The nurse entered with my pain medicine. She injected it into my IV, pushed some buttons on one of the machines, asked me a few questions, and left the room in record time.

“Why are you asking about Randall?”

“Right before Dice shot him, Snarl said Evie was the one who did it and demanded that she admit to it.”

“What?” I asked. There was no way. I tried to remember the conversation Evie and I had about her roommate’s death. She told me about everything leading up to the night Randall died and how Muzzle and Snarl showed up at her job when she got off work. I somehow kept myself from gasping when it hit me. “Shenever said who did it. She was telling me what happened and had to stop because she got choked up. I finished for her saying, ‘…and they killed him.’ She didn’t correct me. Wait. Did she admit to it?”

Phoenix nodded. “She did, but I don’t think it’s as simple as that. Evie doesn’t strike me as the type of person who would kill someone, unless she had to.”

“You think they made her do it?” I asked. My eyes were starting to feel heavy, and I knew I wouldn’t be awake much longer.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I think.”

“I remember her saying something about Muzzle being mad at her for trying to frame him and Snarl. I pointed out that it was a weird thing for him to say since they actually did it. She brushed it off by saying he wasn’t a smart man. But his choice of words makes sense if they made her do it. It all makes sense. The reason she was so scared at first, how she wouldn’t talk about them or Randall, and why she ran away. It all makes sense.” My voice faded as my eyes closed. There was more I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t stay awake long enough to do it.

I don’t knowhow long I slept, but when I woke up, it felt like I’d been hit in the chest with a battering ram that was on fire.

“Holy fuck,” I grunted.

“What’s wrong?” Dice asked.

“Hurts.”

“I’ll get the nurse.”

When he came back, he picked up the cup of water. “Want something to drink?”

“Yeah,” I said and tried to breathe through the pain. I’d never felt anything like it before, and I desperately wanted some kind of relief.

Thankfully, my nurse arrived quickly with the pain medicine. “Now that you’re waking up, we’re going to put you on something called a PCA pump. You’ll have a button you can press to instantly deliver pain medicine when you need it. It will have limits set, so you won’t be able to overdose.”

“Thanks,” I said. I didn’t care what they did as long as it took the pain away.

“Evie?” I asked when she left the room.

Dice shook his head. “No change, man.”

“Who’s with her?”

“Irene, Duke, and Carbon are in the room with her, and there are always at least two brothers outside her room. Phoenix and Badger go back and forth between the rooms.”

“How are Byte and Ranger?”

“They’re both doing good. Ranger should get to go home tomorrow. They were going to release Byte today, but Gabby convinced them to keep him until tomorrow so they can take them both home at the same time.”

“What about the Mad Dogs?” I asked quietly.

“They know what happened. Phoenix called their president to arrange a sit down, and Hound told him to fuck off. So, we’re keeping an eye on them, and we’ll be ready if they make a move before we do.”

“Who’s watching them?”

Dice chuckled. “Apparently, Flint put trackers on the five bikes that were in Cedar Valley. It was a fucking genius move, but Phoenix didn’t know whether to be pissed or proud.”