“Sunshine, I need to do something. Sitting around here while my brothers are putting themselves at risk is driving me mad.” Priest gathered her into his arms.
I had to look away. Seeing them holding each other sent pain slicing through my chest. What if I never got to touch Thunder again? He had to come back to me. Life wouldn’t be so cruel to let me finally find the man meant for me then rip him away.
“What do you think, Ashley? Are you okay going to the clubhouse?” Rae called out.
“Can Scamp come too?” I was already shrugging on the sweatshirt Thunder had left with me.
I buried my hand in Scamp’s fur the whole ride down the mountain. Each passing second carried us closer to the clubhouse, and hopefully closer to finding out what was going on. Most of the lights blazed inside. Didn’t look like anyone was getting any rest. Two guys at the gate waved us through and Priest pulled up to the door.
We rushed inside to find Stone and a couple of the newer club members sitting around the big TV in the family room.
“Is that drone footage?” Priest asked.
“Yeah. Juice is patching it through. He’s been trying to see if there’s anyone inside besides those motherfuckers,” Stone said.
The lighting was terrible, but I could make out the outline of the building. While we watched, bursts of light danced across the screen.
“What was that?” I ran toward the television, hoping there was just a glitch in the transmission.
“They’ve been firing for the past half hour.” Stone shook his head and pointed to an area at the top right of the screen. “If we can get our guys over there, I think they can get out.”
The whole screen lit up, then went dark.
“There go your eyes,” Priest said.
“Fuck.” Stone picked up his phone. “They took out the drone. That was the only way for us to track them.”
“What can we do?” Someone needed to do something, and fast.
“Unless you’ve got a drone in your back pocket, it’s going to have to wait,” Stone said.
“Not in my pocket, but we have one back at the ranch. We don’t use it very often, but Dusty got it so we could do remote checks on the cattle.” I wanted to help, wanted to feel like I was doing something besides sitting around and waiting.
“You know how to fly it?” Stone asked.
I’d done it a couple of times, but Dusty was the pro. Sensing they wouldn’t let me go get it unless I convinced them I knew exactly what I was doing, I bent the truth a little. “Yes.”
“I’ll take her back to get it,” Priest said. “Rae, you stay here. I’ll be back before you know it.”
I pulled my best friend into a hug. “It’ll be okay. I promise.”
A thin layerof fog hovered over the road as we approached the ranch. It looked peaceful in the soft early morning light. It was hard to believe the horrors that had happened over the past few days. Hoping that we were on the cusp of putting an end to the Savage Bones’s hold on Mustang Mountain, I directed Priest to the outbuilding where I’d seen Dusty store the drone. The farm truck was parked in front, and I heard noise coming from inside as soon as I opened the door.
Priest motioned for me to stay back as he pulled a gun from the glove compartment. My pulse whooshed through my ears and I held my breath while Priest inched closer and closer to the door.
Dusty came out holding the case to the drone. His forehead creased when he saw me. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d be at work already.”
Priest pointed the gun at Dusty. “Going somewhere with that?”
Dusty’s eyes widened. “Just trying to check on some cattle. What’s with the gun?”
“Haven’t you heard what’s happening?” I stepped out from behind the door of the truck and headed toward Dusty. “The Savage Bones stole our fertilizer. Thunder and some others followed them back?—”
“Don’t say anything more, Ashley,” Priest warned.
“What? He’s not involved in any of this.” I wasn’t sure whether to walk toward Priest to convince him to put down the gun or head toward Dusty to keep him from freaking out because he was being held at gunpoint.
“How do you think the Savage Bones knew where to find the fertilizer?” Priest glared at the man who’d been a part of my life since the day I was born.
