“Hero,” I bark into the phone.

“Hey, brother, sorry to bug you but I need you to come by the clubhouse. There’s some shit you may want to see. Bring Dani with you,” Raze orders.

“Sure thing, anything I need to worry about? It’s not like you to request Dani’s presence any other time,” I hesitantly question.

“We’ll talk about it when you get here,” he says before hanging up. Putting my phone back into my pocket, I let Dani know we’ve been ordered to appear at the clubhouse and that we have to postpone our plans at least for a few hours. Making a U-Turn, I head back north toward the clubhouse.

Pulling into the drive at the clubhouse, I see an unmarked police car parked outside the main entrance. Raze and a couple of the guys are standing outside next to the car. As soon as I kill the engine, Dani hops off and waits for me to follow. Raze meets us halfway between the clubhouse and my bike.

“What the fuck, Raze? Why are the cops here?” I question.

“They want to talk to Dani, Hero. They all but ordered me to have you bring her here under threat of being locked up for drug and women trafficking charges.”

“Oh, that’s bullshit, Raze. We haven’t done any of that shit. What the fuck do they want with Dani?”

“You might want to ask her,” says Raze, turning to look her. Dani goes pale and instantly silent.

“Angel, what the fuck do the police want with you?”

She remains silent and refuses to answer me.

“I’m not asking again, Dani. Why the fuck is the police department here to talk to you?”

“I—,” she stammers, just as two uniformed officers exit the clubhouse, spotting Dani standing with me. Walking up to Dani, one of the officers removes his cuffs while the other officer directs his gun on her. Shoving me aside, the officer with the cuffs grabs Dani just as she tries to run away.

“What the hell are you doing to my girl?” I scream at the officer, charging toward him. “Don’t fucking touch her.”

“Get the fuck back,” yells the armed officer, pointing his handgun at me. “You take one step toward her or us, and I’ll pump your ass full of lead.”

The other officer slaps the cuffs on Dani, shoving her against the squad car. Her head slams against the metal of the roof roughly, breaking open her skin and letting blood flow over her face.

“Danae Espinoza, you are under arrest for the murders of Bob and Diana Williams.”

Holy shit, my girl is a fucking murderer.

Pulling up to the clubhouse and seeing that squad car parked in the drive, I knew my reprieve from the horrors of my past were over. I always knew my past would catch up to me someday, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon. How the fuck did they find me? The thought crosses my mind that maybe I’m just paranoid. Maybe, just maybe, this is about the club’s hit on Twisted Tribe or some kind of drug raid. I haven’t seen drugs around so maybe it’s just a check to make sure they’re still running a clean club. I know deep down I am just lying to myself, and that’s proven when the officers stop in their tracks as soon as they lay eyes on me. Before I even have a chance to run, the officers throw me head first into the squad and cuff me at gun point. Hero watches in stunned silence as the officer arrests me for the murder of my mom and step-dad.

“You fucking killed your parents, Dani?” he screams at me. “I fucking trusted you with everything about my past and you had blood on your hands! I lost my fucking family, and you killed yours. I felt sorry for you that yours were taken away just like mine, but it was by your own hand. You’re just another fucking monster, Dani. ”

“Hero, I didn’t fucking do it” I scream as the officer shoves me into the back of the car. “Please, you have to believe me! I’m innocent, god dammit! I didn’t kill them! Please, Tyler! You know me!”

“You don’t have the right to call me that now. You lied to me to make me feel sorry for you and to keep a roof over your head. You couldn’t even tell me your real name, Danae. You’re fucking dead to me, you murderous bitch.”

His words echo off the buildings as the door is slammed shut. His mistrust twists the knife of betrayal in further. Why doesn’t he believe me? He knows who I am. I told him everything I could without outing myself. He knows I’m not capable of this. The officers walk back to Raze and Hero and speak to them for several minutes before returning to the car and sliding into the front seat. I kick and scream the entire time, hoping Hero will fucking come back to reality and realize that this is wrong. The officer starts the car and backs out. I watch Hero through the window as we pull away. His face is expressionless and cold as he follows Raze into the clubhouse, shutting the door and shutting me out without the hope of being saved. He’s signed my death order.

“Please, Hero. You know I didn’t do this!” I bellow, pressing my face against the glass while attempting one last shot at rousing the man who I was with this morning. The clubhouse remains closed as we pull onto the street, and the clubhouse shrinks in the distance.

“Shut the fuck up back there,” screams the officer in the passenger seat. “None of these fuckers are going to help you, Danae. You’re a fucking cop killer. They don’t want anything to do with someone who has the law chasing them down, even if you’re a fine piece of ass.”

“My name is Dani, shit-for-brains, and I didn’t fucking kill my mom or Bob.”

“Well, sweetheart, sure as fuck looks like you did. The FBI has been trying to track you down for months since you bolted from Cleveland.”

How did the FBI get involved? Sure, Bob was a cop, but he was far from the officer-of-the-year caliber that would be recognized. He and my mom were just normal people, nothing extraordinary. My head aches from being slammed against the car. Blood drips down the front of my face, impeding my vision. With each throb of my head, my vision clouds and I grow weak. Suddenly, the memories of that last night in Cleveland flood into my brain and take over my mind.

Coming home from my kickboxing class, I walk through the door. “Anyone home?” I yell upstairs. The house is completely pitch black and silent. It’s unlike my mom and step-dad to be out so late during the week. Maybe Bob was working late and mom went on to bed, I think to myself. She usually takes an Ambien at night when Bob’s on the night shift to help her relax and sleep. Since Dad was killed in the line of duty, she never slept well until Bob came home in the morning. She was too afraid of a repeat of Dad’s murder. Wait. Both of their cars were in the drive. What the hell is going on?

“Mom? Bob? Is anyone here?” Still nothing in response. Shrugging my shoulders, I start toward the kitchen.

Flicking on the light, I toss down my car keys onto the counter and head to the fridge for a bottle of water. Groans from the dining room echo into the kitchen. What the hell was that? I walk toward the noise only to find my mom and Bob strapped into two of the dining chairs. Bob is completely disemboweled with his mangled internal organs spilling from his stomach down onto his lap and legs. Blood pools around him as he convulses before going still. Who the fuck did this? I’m motionless with fear. Who would do this? I don’t even recognize my own mother’s scream for me to run, but I can’t leave her. I won’t leave her to the same fate as her husband. Running to her side, I tear at the duct tape binding her hands and feet.

“Run, baby. Don’t try to save me. Save yourself. You’ve got to run, baby. He wants you,” my mother pleads.

I free her hands as something comes down hard against my head, sending me crashing to the floor. A maniacal laugh echoes through my brain as an evil and familiar face comes into view leaning over me. “You’re mine now,” he says as blackness washes over me, pulling me down into hell.