Covering him up, I curl against his side and take a moment to consider my options. The sudden vibration from my phone makes me jump and seeing my dad’s photo on the screen doesn’t bring me the comfort it usually does.
“Hey,” I answer it after the third ring. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah. Look I know you don’t want to hear it, but I really think it’s best if you consider heading home. Eda told me about your little visit with the sheriff.” Dad is loaded for bear. I can hear it in his voice.
Just as I’m about to argue, I realize that this might be the best way to protect him. If I load up the biker into the backseat of my truck and cover him with my stuff until I get out of South Dakota, I can get him back to my clinic.
Granted, it’s not set up for humans, but I have an X-ray machine and can handle his care there—especially since no one’s expecting me back for another few days. I even set up a small bedroom in the back for the times I’ve operated on animals and don’t want to leave them unattended overnight.
“I agree,” I softly respond.
“Everly, please do this for me… wait, what did you say?”
“I said I agree, Dad,” I tell him. “Will you come with me though? Sheriff May really kind of freaked me out.”
“Things won’t get better if we don’t do something, so I have to stay. When will you go?”
“I’m going to pack up my truck and I’ll come say goodbye,” I answer, thoroughly frustrated but knowing how stubborn that man is. “I feel like a coward, Dad.”
“I just want you safe, baby,” he quietly responds. “There’s a fight coming, and I can’t concentrate on that with you here.”
*
Forty-five minutes later I was an exhausted, sweaty mess, but I’d done a fair job of covering up my passenger.
“Please don’t die on me,” I whispered as I pulled around to the back of Dad’s store and jumped out, clicking the lock on my key fob and entering the door that went straight into Dad’s office.
I paused for a moment, nearly bowled over by all the memories in this room. The two, old wooden desks pushed face-to-face in the center—Dad’s and the one that I used for so many years. The oversized leather chair in the corner where I’d read for hours, waiting for Dad to close up for the day.
Mom died bringing me into this world and without asking anyone for help, Dad raised me here. I learned to walk in the plumbing aisle, lost my first baby tooth in the lumber section, and got my first period here during a blizzard the winter I was eleven. Without blinking an eye, Dad improvised a pad for me until we could get to a store.
As much as losing this place would hurt, it wouldn’t mean a thing if anything happened to Dad.
“I’m doing the right thing,” I quietly try to reassure myself before I go looking for him. Right now, there’s nothing tying the biker to Dad, I made sure there was nothing left to find in the pole barn; at least there won’t be once Dad returns Eda’s ATV.
“Hi Dad,” I call out, using the other door that leads to the store counter. He’s right there talking to Lucy’s husband, Nile, who nearly jumps out of his skin. “Hey! Long time no see.”
“I’ll say,” he bashfully replies, and I’m still surprised he worked up the nerve to ask Lucy out. “Your dad said you’re cutting your trip short.”
“Yeah, a horse breeder back home is all worked up, so I need to get back.” The lie flies out of my mouth without thought and I see Dad nod his head in approval. “Please give Lucy a hug for me and tell her I promise to visit next time I come.”
“Of course, hopefully things will be, well, calmer by then.” His reply and the look he shares with Dad makes me think he’s in cahoots with this whole resistance thing Dad has going.
“Give me a minute with her and then you’ll…” Dad waves his hand at Nile who nods in agreement before walking toward the front door. “I want you to follow Nile once you leave here. He lives close enough to the border that he can keep an eye out until you getbeyondtheir reach.”
“You promise me you won’t stick your neck out, too far, at least.” It’s hard to keep the panic from my voice as he pulls me in for a hug. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. Always have,” he whispers before kissing my forehead. “Call me every ninety minutes until you’re home.”
“You goddamn better answer,” I growl, getting a laugh from him.
He doesn’t seem to notice how stuffed the backseat is when he opens my door for me and I’m trying desperately not to cry as I reverse the truck and wave at him.
“You better be worth it,” I mutter to my passenger when I circle the building to where Nile is waiting in his truck.
There’s a grunt that comes so delayed from my statement that I almost don’t associate it as an answer until heavily muffled words follow it. Looking in the rearview mirror, he struggles to open his eyes, but they barely make it halfway before snapping shut again. He seems to really focus on speaking because this time I hear him plain as day.
“Nobody fucks with the Kings.”
