Chapter 57 STEPPING BACK

Chapter 57 STEPPING BACK
"Guys," Jax suddenly shouted from the driver's seat, pointing out the windscreen. “You need to get out of there!”

In the distance, the distinct, flashing red and blue lights of multiple police cruisers were turning the corner, their sirens beginning to wail as they accelerated toward the motel.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" I yelled into the mic. "Guys, the police are coming! Don’t grab anything and clear your fingerprints from items you touched!"

"Do you think we are amateurs, Si? We know what to do," Leo snapped back.

A few seconds later, the door to Room 12 flew open, and Mina and Leo scrambled out.

They ran to us and lunged inside with Mina carrying a heavy, dirt-stained canvas duffel bag.

Jax slammed the van into reverse, the tires screeching against the gravel as he swung the vehicle around and sped off in the opposite direction, passing the alleyway just as three police cruisers pulled down into the motel parking lot.

I looked through the rearview mirror, watching the flashing lights recede into the distance. My chest heaved as I let out a massive sigh of relief when none followed us. 

Nobody had spotted us. 

I turned around in my seat, staring at Mina and Leo, who were panting in the back. "What is it? What did you see in there that made you yell?"

Mina didn't say a word. Her expression was completely serious as she reached down and calmly unzipped the canvas duffel bag, turning it toward the front seats.

I leaned over the headrest, and my jaw dropped.

The bag was entirely filled with neatly stacked, banded bricks of hundred-dollar bills. There had to be at least half a million dollars in cash sitting on the floor of the van.

“What the fuck?” Kael whispered.

“Exactly,” Mina said, her voice dropping into a breathless whisper. "It seems they didn't just tell him to come back into town. They also paid him a massive amount of money to keep his mouth shut."

My mind completely spiraled into a chaotic abyss of confusion. "Keep his mouth shut from what?" I muttered, my voice shaking. 

"Miller literally just told us he had physical evidence proving Kanan’s innocence,” JAx muttered. “Why would he pay him a fortune to keep quiet about an alibi that clears his name?"

"This is giving me the heavy heebie-jeebies," Leo said, shaking his head as he stared at the money. "We really need to drop this shit, Si. The man is dead. Whatever game he was playing, it’s over."

The drive back to the garage was entirely silent. The weight of the cash seemed to suffocate the air inside the vehicle. 

The moment we got in, Leo picked up his laptop while the rest of us gathered around the bag, staring at the money.

"Alright, guys," he said after a few seconds, his voice sounding entirely dry as he looked up from the screen. “I found out exactly who that unknown number belongs to."

"Who is it?" Kael asked, stepping closer.

“An Arnol Meyer,” he replied. 

The second the syllables left his mouth, a cold shock ran straight down my spine, as if ice flooded my veins.

I knew that name.

He was a member of the Council. One of the most powerful men in the city.

"Who the hell is that?" Jax asked, looking from Leo to Kael in total confusion. "I'm sure I’ve heard that name, but I can’t just pinpoint where." 

Leo scrolled on the computer for a while before his face suddenly went pale. "On paper, he’s just a business man, but according to the deep records,” he looked up from the screen. “He is a sitting member of the Mafia Council."

Jax, Mina, and Kael froze, their faces turning completely pale.

"What the fuck?" Kael muttered, stepping back from the table. "A Council member is involved? What the hell is going on here?"

"This is way bigger than we thought," Jax said, his voice dropping into a grave tone as he looked at me. "Kanan Maddox was one thing. But the Council? No. No way, Si. We are entirely out of our depth. We need to drop this immediately."

Everyone looked toward me, expecting an argument or a fight.

I closed my eyes, forcing a calm expression onto my face before I looked up at my crew. "Yeah. Let's drop it."

They all stared at me with wide-eyed surprise.

“What?” I snapped, my voice defensive.

"What?" Leo gasped, blinking rapidly. "Si, you've been pushing us for months since the day you woke up from the hospital to hunt this lead. Why are you suddenly dropping it so easily now?"

"I didn't know it was going to be this dangerous," I lied smoothly, keeping my voice level as I met Jax's intense gaze. "I don't want any of you getting hurt or ending up in a body bag like Miller."

Relief immediately swept through the room.

Jax gave me a genuine smile. "Well, that is a very good plan, Si. Let's just focus on the clean business you want to do with Maddox instead of going after shadows."

"Yeah," I said, forcing a small smile back. "That’s the plan."

The rest of the crew nodded, visibly satisfied that the danger had passed, but Jax’s eyes lingered on me. 

He was still giving me a highly suspicious, narrow look. He knew me too well. He knew I would never just walk away from a fight this easily.

But I had made the real Sienna a promise that I was going to take care of her friends. And putting them in the Council’s crosshairs was definitely not a good way to keep that promise.

I ignored his gaze, turning away to walk up the metal stairs to my loft, but internally, my thoughts were a raging storm.

Why did a member of the Council pay Miller all that money, give him permission to return, then have him killed? 

Maybe the team was right. Maybe I needed to focus on my job with Kanan, which would get me closer to him.

I could get the truth from the horse's mouth instead of chasing wild leads.