Protect & Serve(205)

“What happens if we get down there and he fed you a thick stack of lies?” I asked, playing Devil’s advocate.

“The information is good,” he promised me. “There’s no doubt about that. The Desert Owl is very persuasive…”

“Right,” I nodded, crossing my arms and holding my elbows. That wasn’t convincing me, and Hunter knew it… but I wasn’t willing to keep the topic going.

“You’ll want to get some rest if you can,” Hunter reminded me. “Fit in a couple of hours’ sleep if you can. Our guests are going to do the same. God knows my club needs it.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” I replied softly. “What about you?”

For a second, Hunter looked amenable to the idea. After all, we hadn’t slept in a bed together since reuniting.

But his glance slid over to his tabletop, covered in maps with revised information and new details, and I knew his answer before he parted his lips.

“I have to go over everything a few times,” Hunter replied softly but firmly. He pointed to a nondescript door to the side of the war room and continued, “Go on ahead without me. I’ll be in there in a little while.”

I gave him a quick kiss, my hand lingering on his shoulder for a moment. After a quick squeeze, I slid into the room. It was a small room with a full-sized bed in the corner, some basic wooden furniture, a tall floor lamp, a small bookcase, and a standing closet.

This is his bedroom away from home, I realized to myself as I shed down to my underwear and slipped beneath the covers of his bed.

With my head against his pillow, I could watch him study the table. He descended back into his work, glancing between maps and pinning papers to the walls.

I knew he wasn’t going to rest.

He couldn’t rest.

Although he clearly wanted to climb into this bed with me and enjoy my company just as much as I wanted him to, he couldn’t pull himself away from his work. The safety of his men, and the lives of these last abductee victims, weighed too heavily on his mind.

The binding chains of responsibility weigh heavy, I thought to myself as I drifted to sleep, gazing sleepily upon my man as he worked hard to protect us all.

When I next opened my eyes, Hunter was nowhere to be found. Grumbling and wiping the sleep from my eyes, I crawled out of bed and threw my clothes back on.

How long has it been? I thought to myself, throwing my boots back on and walking out into the hallway. There was a bustle of activity as bikers from every present club flooded towards the front, snatching up gear.

As I stepped into the front den and finally encountered windows again, I realized that the sun was already setting outside.

Well… that answers how long I’ve been out, I thought to myself numbly.

I needed to find Hunter, and fast.

While scanning the crowd for him, I noticed that over half of the collected bikers weren’t in bulletproof vests… There must have not been enough time to secure more protection for the assembled forces.

A feeling of foreboding came over me.

Hunter knew better than to lead these forces into the fight unprepared. So far, we had been lucky to survive no casualties and only a few wounds. We might not be so lucky in the future…

Was one more day enough time to prepare for a grander, larger scale of attack? After all, we were trespassing across the border… heading into the enemy’s territory and striking them on their own turf. We would be bringing the fight directly to them…

I shook my head.

Have more faith in him, I reprimanded myself. After all, this wasn’t the first time he’d done this. He’d been a part of the Dragons when they’d descended a lot further than this into Mexico, striking at the cartel to free his sister before…

This time, he had the advantage.

Hunter had assembled a considerable force here. While they brought their own weaponry, there was still extra to go around.

We also had the luxury of a nearby target. We would be heading less than a dozen miles outside of Juarez. We could be there in an hour if we caught the right trail.

More men.

More guns.

More time.

Hunter had spent countless hours pouring over this plan, uniting the necessary manpower to his cause, and studying the revised trivia he now knew from the survivor of the cartel border brawl.

My man’s got this in the bag.

I finally spotted Hunter off in a dark corner speaking to Grizz. The two were in some kind of hot debate, and I hesitated to interfere.

Before I could turn and find something else to do, Hunter spotted me. With a sly grin, he gestured for me to join them. As I reluctantly approached, Grizz whispered something in his ear before disappearing into the crowd.

“What was that all about?” I asked Hunter after coming into earshot.