"And this all comes from her?" Shades gave a chin lift toward the shed.

"Yup."

"You wanna fill me in on how she obtained this info?" Shades asked.

"She overheard it."

"She overheard it?" Shades asked with an incredulous tone.

"Straight from Florida's mouth."

"Florida? Who the hell is Florida?" Hammer asked.

"President of the Death Head's Jacksonville Chapter," Butcher filled him in as he walked up overhearing the talk.

Ghost's eyes swung to his President. The man had grey hair, a beard and wire rimmed glasses. He had always reminded Ghost of Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Right now the man's eyes were boring into his.

"How in the hell was this girl in any position to overhear anything, son?"

"Wrong place at the right time."

Butcher gave him a long look and raised one brow. "Or wrong place at the wrong time for her."

"Yeah," Ghost agreed with him.

"They know she knows?" Butcher asked.

Ghost nodded. "Yup."

"They know she's with you?"

"They saw me, and they'll remember my face. But I don't think they got a look at my cut."

"You don't think?"

Ghost lifted his hands, shrugging. It was the best answer he could give. "They ain't showed up here yet, have they?"

Butcher let out an aggravated breath. "Why don't you start at the beginning."

"Picked up a nail in my tire-"

"Yeah, yeah. I know all that part. Get to the part where you hooked up with this chick I heard tell about. The one with all the information and the Death Heads on her ass," Butcher snapped.

Boot and Slick, the chapter's Treasurer and Sargent At Arms walked up. They were two of the older members in the chapter, and two of Butcher's most trusted brothers. Butcher nodded for Ghost to continue.

He explained the whole story from the moment he first saw Jessie until they rolled into the Evil Dead camp.

Butcher shook his head. "What a cluster-fuck."

Ghost watched him turn away, run his hand over his beard, and then turn back to snap, his eyes on Ghost, "You believe it?"

"Which fuckin' part?" Shades asked Butcher with a huff that showed his exasperation with the whole mess.

Butcher's eyes swung to Shades. "Any of it. All of it."

"She wouldn't lie. Not to me," Ghost bit out.

Butcher's head came up, his brows raised. "Oh. Is that so? You sure about that?"

Ghost nodded once. "Yeah. I'm sure."

"You trust her?" Shades asked.

Ghost nodded. "Yeah. I do."

"With your life? With the lives of your brothers?" Butcher added, piercing him with a look.

"I do," Ghost replied tersely, his jaw tight. The air was thick with tension until finally Shades broke it. He looked over at Butcher.

"How do you want to handle this?"

Butcher didn't hesitate, his eyes drilling into Ghost's, he replied, "We use her and what she knows to make a deal with the DKs."

Ghost knew what that look meant. His loyalties were with the club, and if he had a problem with this, he'd better get 'right' with it, because he had no choice.

Shades cut his eyes to Ghost, and Ghost could read what that look meant. He was wondering if his brother was going to be okay with it. He wasn't. Not really. But he would have to be. Because when it all came down to it, he and his club were the only thing standing between her and the Death Heads. That deal could be the only way to keep her safe from them. And to get his club behind helping her, she had to be of some use to them. Making that deal would do it.

"We roll out tomorrow, first light. San Jose Chapter is going to wait for their guy to get released. Now that the crowds have left, they're gonna hole up in a motel until he's fit to travel."

"How long's that gonna be?" Griz asked.

Butcher's gaze swung to him. "Couple more days." Then his eyes returned to Shades. "Make sure the boys are ready to roll out in the morning."

Shades nodded. "Will do."

Butcher stalked off with Boot and Slick at his back.

Shades looked to Griz and Hammer. "Give us a minute, boys." After they walked off, his gaze swung to Ghost. "You gonna be good with this?"

"Gonna have to be, won't I?"

Shades nodded, gazing out over the landscape. "She tell you everything? You got a good feeling about that?"

Ghost stared at his VP. But Shades was much more than just his VP, more than just a brother, he was also a close friend. They'd joined up about the same time and come up through the ranks together. He was closer to Shades than to any of the others.

Shades gaze swung back to his.

It was Ghost's turn to shift his eyes to the horizon. He had to be honest with Shades. "Not sure she's tellin' me everything, but I believe the information she's givin' us is true. She wouldn't lie about that."

"Hope not. It won't go well if she is," Shades gave him the warning he didn't need, and then took a swig of his beer. "You want to tell me about her?"

Ghost took a long pull off his own beer. "Not really."

Shades gave him a look.

Ghost grinned. "But I guess I will."

"What I can't figure is why I've never heard about her in all this time. Not once, brother. What the hell? Thought I knew you."

"You know me, bro."

"Then how is it you have a stepsister I never knew about?"

"My dad's second wife. She had two kids, Jessie and her brother, Tommy. They moved in with us when I was thirteen."

Shades nodded, but remained quiet waiting for Ghost to continue.

"By the time I was hanging around the MC, I'd already moved out of the house. Tommy joined the military. My father divorced Collette not long after that." He took a sip of beer. "Tommy was killed by an IED, and they shipped his body home. I was in lockup awaiting trial on that bullshit assault charge, and I missed the funeral. When I got out, I visited his grave, and Jessie was there. She barely would look at me though."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "She was devastated. Pissed at the world. Next I heard she'd dropped out of school. Two months before graduation, can you believe that? Then she left town with some loser. Anyway, I lost touch with her after that."

Shades studied him, his eyes narrowed. "And?"

"And what?"

"What aren't you tellin' me?"

Ghost blew out a breath and rolled his eyes. "Let it go, man."

Shades grinned. "I see. So that's how it is."

"We had a moment. Once. A long fuckin' time ago. It shouldn't have happened, and it never happened again."

"By 'a long fuckin' time ago' you mean when?"

Ghost tossed his beer bottle in a nearby oil drum. It shattered with a loud crash. "She was sixteen, I was twenty-one. And before you say anything, it wasn't much more than a kiss."

Shades grinned. "I didn't say a word."

"Yeah, but you were thinkin' it."

"She ain't sixteen anymore, bro."

"No, she's not." Ghost sure didn't need Shades to point that out. He was well aware.

"I see you've noticed." Shades chuckled. "Half the club's noticed, too, just so you know."

"Fuck."

"I take it you're putting her off limits."

"Abso-fuckin-lutely."

Shades grinned. "Noted. I'll pass the word."

"I'm gonna take a hot fuckin' shower and hit the sack."

"Enjoy it, bro, cause I see a bunch of cold showers in your future."

Ghost could hear Shades laughter as he walked away. Fuck if that wasn't the truth.

Ghost stood beside the empty bunk next to the one where he'd put Jessie at the end of the row. She was sound asleep. He pulled off his cut and tossed it up on the top bunk. Then he collapsed on the bottom bunk, exhausted. There were a couple of old-timers crashed on the other side, snoring away, but for the most part the shed was empty. And he could see why, with the rain burned off, the shed was hot as hell.

He turned his head and looked over at Jess. She had her back to him, but he could see the outline of her body. She'd kicked off the cover of the sleeping bag in the heat, and his eyes strayed down over the curve of her hip.

Shit.

He turned his head and locked his eyes on the underside of the top bunk. He couldn't allow himself to get any ideas about her and that sweet body of hers. He needed to remember how much she was going to hate him when she found out his club was going to put her in the middle of an alliance with the DKs.

It was a long time before he finally fell asleep.

CHAPTER SIX.

Jess awoke when the bunk shook. She opened her eyes to see Ghost standing over her.

"Wake up, Jess. Roll-out's in ten minutes."

She frowned up at him, squinting her eyes. "Roll-out?"

"The club is pulling out. Heading home."

"What time is it?"

"Seven."

She groaned.

He grinned. "Not a morning person?"

She sat up, rubbing her face. "I need coffee."