Chapter Fifteen
Hawkeye kept his voicelow as he and Raven discussed what happened next.First priority was getting everyone here, making sure they were all okay, then getting home.Once back in Craven’s Creek, they could take a deep breath and he could start looking into The Calling and Jericho.He wanted to get Pike on it now, but it was almost 3:00 AM and even if he called now, which he wouldn’t because that would waste all the burners, Pike would put off starting until dawn at least, probably later.All things considered, unless there was serious trouble coming, he would be back before Pike got started anyway.
Besides, it would be far more satisfying to roll his ass out of bed and put him to work in person rather than over the phone.
Raven’s phone chirped.He looked at the screen then shook his head.
“Fuck.This can’t be good.”He hit the screen a couple times and a moment later a tinny ringing sound echoed through the room.
“What?”Snarled Wrench as he answered the phone.
“Tell me what’s going on?”Raven said.
“I got the women dropped off.No issues there.I’m on my way to you now but it’s going to take longer than anticipated.”
“Why?What’s going on?”Raven looked up and met Hawkeye’s gaze, the worry clear in his eyes.
“Nothing to be alarmed about, but I’ve got a Smurf on my ass.I’m not going to be able to make my usual time.”
“Is he suspicious?”
“Not that I can tell.He’s only been on my ass for a couple of miles.I’m on a pretty lonely stretch of highway.It could be that we’re just going the same direction.I’ll keep you up to date.”
“Sounds good, let me know how things are going, and be sure—”
“I know,” Wrench cut him off.“I know better than to lead him back to you.If he’s still on my ass when I get closer to town, I’ll do a Casper.”
“See that you do.”Raven disconnected the call without waiting for a response.“I really wish he’d drop with the code talk.It wouldn’t be so bad, except he insists on using cartoons.”Raven shook his head.“There’s something wrong with that boy.”
Hawkeye smirked but didn’t say anything.There was something wrong with everyone—the real question was what it was and how they dealt with it.
There were three hard knocks on the front door, making several men startle.
“Someone get that.Don’t forget to make sure it’s someone we trust before you let them in,” Hawkeye barked.Delilah had started snoring softly and he wasn’t ready to disturb her quite yet.She was more than exhausted, and he wanted to let her rest as much as she could.
A moment later, several voices boomed through the room as Smokey and Hardtack stomped into the room.
“Not sure what you expected us to get at this time of night.”Smokey dropped a pair of bags, stuffed with who knows what onto the table beside Hawkeye.Delilah jumped, lifting her head and blinking owlishly.
“What’s up?”She looked up at him.He liked that he was the first person she turned to for answers.
“The guys just got here with food.”He reached over and tugged one side of one of the bags down.“Though, I’m going to use the term food loosely here.It looks like chips, candy and Slim Jims.”He looked down at where Delilah had propped her chin on his chest as she watched him.“Anything in that you’ll eat?”
She crinkled up her nose.“Are there any barbeque chips?And did they get any soda?I could use some sugar and caffeine.”
“I’ll check on the chips, but no soda.I don’t know if they got any but we’re going to be here for a couple more hours at least.You should rest while you can.We’ll be back on the bike for another hour or so and you’ll do better if you get a little sleep.”
She frowned at him but didn’t argue.He wondered if she wanted to say something, or to argue but her father and that fuckwad’s treatment kept her from speaking up.
“Here’s a bag of barbeque,” Hardtack said as he tossed the bag to the table next to Hawkeye.“We didn’t get drinks, didn’t have room on the bikes.What kind of candy you like?”he asked.
