“Got it,” says Pistol, looking at Diesel, but not adding fuel to the flame right now.
“Okay, we’ll meet up at Pigeon River in two hours. Everyone have their shit together and be ready to move out. Torch, Sabre, and Briar, you’re with me.”
“Where’re we going, boss?” Briar asks.
“We’re gonna see if we can figure out where the snipers went. If we can capture one of them, that might be useful.”
“We’ve been looking for the last hour, Skull,” Pistol says. I’m really getting tired of the bastard. If I didn’t need Cade’s men right now…
“Then it won’t hurt for us to look some more. Didn’t I give you a job to do?” I ask over my shoulder, already walking off. I hear him grunt and take that as acceptance.
Diesel slaps me on the shoulder, which jars my fucking arm and hurts like hell, but I ignore it. “Your man needs to be taught who is in charge.”
“I’ve taught him. He’s just too fucking thick to remember.”
“Cut off his testicles. That’s not so easy for a man to forget.”
My hand rubs my sack in reflex.
“I’ll keep that in mind. For now he stands though, I need his brother’s firepower. See you in a couple hours, hermano.”
“See you then,” he says, slapping my back again before walking in the opposite direction.
I hop on my bike and take off, my men following me. I need to get this shit done and get back to Beth. I’ve got to keep her safe. This attack was different from anything the Donahues have done before. I have to tighten the circle around her even more… and soon.
Skull’s late. Dinner was hours ago and it’s dark outside now. I asked Latch if he had heard from them. He got this strange look on his face which worried me, but all he said was that they’d run into some trouble. He swore to me Skull was fine, but it feels like he’s keeping something from me. My phone rang three other times today. It was my father each time, and each time I hit the button to decline the call. I can’t talk to him. I have to keep holding on to hope.
It’s all I have.
I spent all day cleaning the compound like a crazy person. The muffler bunnies were giving me the evil eye, and the men were all looking at me like I’d lost my mind. I have. Until I know if Skull can end this war and contain my father, I’m going to be certifiable.
“You’re looking better these days, Beth,” Latch says.
I’m organizing the back of the bar while Latch sits on a stool in front of me nursing a beer. I blow out a large puff of air because if Latch knew what a mess I was inside, he probably wouldn’t say that.
“I’m trying to have faith,” I tell him.
“Good to know,” he says, taking a drink.
“Tell me about your sister.” I need something to take my mind off of things.
“How do you know about Lucy?”
“I heard some of the girls mention that you help take care of your sister. They think that means you’re sweet and caring.”
“You know better?”
“I think you probably care about your sister, but the fact that you step up to the plate to help her doesn’t make you sweet.”
“Is that a fact?”
“Yep. I think it just means you use that to get into women’s pants.”
“Sweetheart, I don’t need help to get into women’s pants. They see me coming and that shit just magically falls off.”
“I’m sure,” I tell him, shaking my head. I’d argue with him, but after watching him and Sabre in action, I don’t even try. My phone beeps and I pull it out of my back pocket.
“Well, look there. Looks like Skull and the boys are back,” Latch says, using his drink to point to the security monitor that shows bikes and cars pulling into the parking lot outside. “You coming to say hi to your man?” he asks. I don’t look up though. I have a text from my father. It’s a file and I can’t see what it is because it hasn’t downloaded completely.
“What? Oh, go ahead. I’ll follow you in a minute. I want to… freshen up.”
“Women. Geez, you spend all day mooning over Skull and now you’re putting off going to see him. I can tell you he won’t care what the fuck you look like. He’d rather you meet him first, then freshen up.”
“Go on, will you? I’ll be there in a bit.”
He says something else, but I don’t hear it. My attention has turned to my phone. The file pops up; it’s a video. The screen shows a silver and red building that says Edna’s Truck Stop on the outside. My hand shakes as my thumb reaches up to hit the play button on the screen.