I answer them both at once. “I don’t have a supply of guns. I just know where some are stored. My brother asked me to hide them somewhere safe for him a while back. I can show you where.”
Ace remains unconvinced, and he folds his arms across his broad chest. “Whose guns are they?”
“I presume the Rusted Scythes?” I reply, feeling as if I’m stating the obvious. After all, who else would have entrusted them to Eli?
Ace clicks his fingers and points at me. “But you don’t know, do you? God knows what other shit your brother might have gotten himself into. If they belong to someone else, we could be bringing even more trouble to our door.”
“True, Prez, but what choice do we have? We need more weapons, and it’s most likely that they belong to the Rusted Scythes. We should take them rather than risk them falling into our enemy’s hands. We’re already about to be at war with them, so taking them seems like the most logical step,” Gage argues.
I’m glad that he sees sense and has drawn the same conclusions as me. Ace rubs his beard, thinking. “Why don’t you just speak to Eli and ask?” Cash suggests. “Surely now he’s allied with us, he’ll tell you if the guns are hot or not?”
I blink in surprise, trying to process what he’s said. “I’m sorry, did I miss something?” I look between the men, waiting for an answer.
Gage clears his throat uncomfortably. “Ace just told me now. He went to see your brother last night in the hospital.”
My eyebrows shoot up, and I hold up a hand, frowning in confusion before I look at Ace. “And you didn’t think this was something you should’ve shared with me right away? To let me know whether my brother was alive? You let me worry all night that he could be dead or still suffering at the Rusted Scythes clubhouse.”
“You didn’t seem that concerned to me,” Ace sneers, clearly referencing what happened between Gage and me.
Instinctively and without thought, my arm snaps out, slapping him sharply across the face, the sound ringing out before the room descends into stunned silence. Ace doesn’t so much as flinch. The only sign of his suppressed rage is a twitching muscle in his jaw. I’m still too angry to apologize.
“Fuck you!” I spit out, the words dripping with venom. “You have no right to judge me.”
To my surprise, when Ace speaks, his voice is softer and apologetic. “You’re right. I should have told you sooner that your brother is okay,” he concedes, and I feel thrown off-balance by the unexpected humility. “I didn’t get a chance. I saw him in the hospital last night. He’s doing fine, just bruising and a couple of broken bones. You and your brother are now under the protection of the Road Renegades. In exchange, Eli’s gonna share his intel on the Rusted Scythes.”
I nod my thanks but can’t quite bring myself to say the words. However, I feel I have to tell them about Eli. The truth. “I should warn you, Eli might be brilliant, the smartest man I know, but he’s also addicted to painkillers, and that addiction, that need, will always come first. You can’t trust him too much.” It shames me to admit it, and I can’t meet his eye as I say it, opting to stare at the tiled linoleum floor instead.
“Yeah, I’m aware of Eli’s problems, which is why once he’s been discharged from the hospital, I’ve arranged for him to go to a secure rehab, somewhere safe where he can get clean without risk of the Rusted Scythes finding him.”
I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude. No one has ever tried to help before. To my mortification, tears spring in myeyes, and I rapidly blink them away. “Thank you. I appreciate that,” I say, my voice thick as if there’s something stuck in my throat. I cough to clear it. “Do you have a way I can speak to Eli? We could call and ask him about the guns now.” Finally, I force myself to meet Ace’s eye.
Ace considers this for a moment before agreeing. “Alright. But keep it short. We can’t risk the Rusted Scythes finding out he’s communicating with us.” I nod in eager agreement. He pulls his phone from his pocket and dials, holding it to his ear for a moment until handing it over to me.
“Hello?” I ask, uncertainly.
My brother’s concerned voice replies. “Naomi, is that you? Oh, thank god, are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
Relief floods me. Eli’s alright. He’s going to be alright. No matter what he’s done to me, he’s still my brother, my only family. “No, no, they didn’t hurt me. I’m fine.” I don’t add, ‘no thanks to you’.
“Mouse, I’m so sorry.” Eli sounds genuinely repentant, but then he always is when he fucks up.
I don’t have time, and I’m not ready to forgive him yet, so I simply get straight to the point. “I know, Eli, you just focus on getting clean. Look, I need to know. Remember those guns you asked me to hide, who do they belong to?”
“Mouse, why do you need guns?” he asks anxiously.
“I don’t, but the Road Renegades do if they’re going to be able to protect me and you from the Rusted Scythes. So, who do the guns belong to? If we take them, will it bring more trouble down on our heads, will we make a new enemy trying to protect ourselves from the existing one?” I ask urgently, aware of Acefidgeting, his leg bouncing, no doubt preparing to tell me to hurry up.
Eli is silent on the other end, and for a moment, I worry I’ve lost him. “You can take the guns. It should be safe—or at least safer than the alternative.”
“Thanks, Eli,” I murmur. “You take care of yourself. I’ll see you soon.”
“You too, Mouse. I love you.”
I don’t reply, forcing myself to end the call and hand the phone back before relaying what Eli said to the guys who are waiting with bated breath. They look to each other, communicating silently. “So, he didn’t specifically say who the guns belonged to?” Ace clarifies, seeming frustrated as if he wished he were the one to speak to Eli and ask.
“No, but he said they were safe.” Seeing their skeptical expressions, I stubbornly insist, “I trust my brother on this. If he says they’re safe, they’re safe.”
Gage nods trustingly. “If Naomi says so, I think we should trust him.” I smile at him, grateful to have an ally.
