Free Biker Justice: A Skull Kings MC Novella by Sage L. Morgan Page B

board. How many of those church organizations were real?
    “Fine,” I finally said. “But be careful.”
    “I will,” Lisbeth said. She crossed her arms, standing her ground as she waited for me to leave.
    I was halfway across the lot before she called out her next words.
    “Oh, and don’t tell Logan anything this time.”
    I winced at her accusatory tone.
    * * *
    I cracked open the door to Xander’s room for about the fiftieth time that night.
    “Don’t worry, Mom, I’m still here,” he said. He didn’t even bother to look up at me from his book.
    I laughed nervously. “I’m sorry, buddy. I guess I’m a little on edge.”
    I closed the door and padded softly to the kitchen. Lisbeth had texted me hours ago, claiming she’d be on her way soon. I’d watched the sky darken from blue to pink to starry-black since then. Where was she?
    I spent ten minutes scrubbing grime off the stove when I finally heard it: the wheeze and sigh of a car sliding into my driveway. Headlights shone through the window and moved across my living room wall. A car door slammed, and Lisbeth’s silhouette appeared through the frosted glass of my front door.
    “Come on in,” I said as I opened the door.
    She shouldered past me into the kitchen and sat down at the table. “Before I tell you everything, you have to tell me what you were doing in Anthemhead.”
    I blushed. “I had to go to the pharmacy there,” was all I said.
    Lisbeth gave me an incredulous look. “Then, tell me what you were doing at the healing clinic.”
    I felt my defenses go up immediately. Logan had warned me that this might happen. Lisbeth wanted to find out how much I knew so she could build up a lie that made sense. I needed to derail her somehow.
    “Healing clinic?” I said. “Do you think I’m still going to believe that after what I saw?”
    “It is a healing clinic,” she said.
    “Here’s what I think,” I began. “Maybe the healing clinic is real, but you and Father Alan are not. I think he’s some sort of higher up in the gang, and he’s recruiting broken, vulnerable women from the support group.”
    Lisbeth’s mouth twisted into a frown. “Sounds like you’ve had a conversation with Logan,” she spat.
    “The question is,” I continued on, “why are you helping him?”
    Lisbeth avoided my gaze and stared at my toaster instead. I dragged out the chair next to hers and sat down.
    “You told me you did something bad,” I said. “You said they were looking for you. I kept your secret from Liam because I thought it’d keep you safe, but what’s the use if none of that is true?”
    Lisbeth looked at me in surprise. “You can’t tell Liam.”
    “What else am I supposed to do? I have no idea what kind of danger you’re in.”
    “Can’t you just trust me to look out for myself?”
    “I can’t trust you at all, Lisbeth.”
    She sat back and gaped. Apparently, I’d struck a nerve.
    “If I tell you the truth, will you promise not to tell Liam?” she said in a small voice.
    “It has to be the whole truth.”
    Lisbeth nodded. A knocking sound came out of another room, and her eyes narrowed. “What was that?”
    “My kid. He’s in his room. Don’t worry, he can’t hear us.”
    She eased back down and listened as the next few seconds ticked by in silence. Seemingly satisfied, she placed her hands on the table and played with the sleeves of her shirt. “I don’t know where to start.”
    “How about you start by telling me what part of your story is true?” I said.
    Lisbeth rolled her eyes. “ Fine. When I ran away from home two years ago, I got into drugs. That part was true. But then, I got hooked, and it wasn’t so great anymore. That’s when a friend of a friend told me about True North Healing Clinic.”
    “In Anthemhead?”
    “No. The one I went to was in Vegas. I thought it was just a regular support group. I wasn’t into the whole Jesus thing, but it just made the people there seem like they actually cared, so I