“You wanna go?” he asked.
“Don’t know. I’d like to for Natasha, but I don’t want everyone trying to talk to me. Especially the media. Plus, if they see me with you guys, they’ll know where I am.”
The saloon doors blew open, and Drew stormed in. “We’ve got a problem.”
“Another fuckin’ one?” Vortex demanded.
“News vans are pulling up in the public car park; they’re aware Amy’s hiding here. I’ve informed Monroe, and he’s going to get the locals to help keep them from town.”
Well, who needed to worry about the candlelight vigil now?
“Fuck me, the openings in a couple of days. Will the media circus put customers off?” Vortex groaned.
Guilt swamped me. This was my fault. Their entire lives were being upended. “I can stay in a hotel,” I suggested. Vortex spun on me so quickly that I jumped.
“You’re staying here. We can protect you here.”
“The problem is that nobody from Amy’s family or Amy is giving interviews, and it’s driving up the frenzy. That social media clip in the restaurant went viral. Now everyone wants a piece,” Oil said.
“That’s probably true,” Drew agreed.
“I don’t want to give a statement or interview. My grief isn’t for public consumption,” I stated, upset.
“Someone wanna explain what’s happening?” Bow demanded, confused.
“Nobody here believes it is. I’m just stating how the world works nowadays,” Oil replied, ignoring him.
“Can we keep them out of town?” King asked.
“Yes. Because this is private property, Unwanted Bastards own it,” Vortex stated.
“I’ll come help until the locals arrive,” King offered, and Drew nodded gratefully.
“We’ll need some patrols as well, walking through town. Although there’s only one road in, they can sneak through fields and everything,” Drew said.
“Good job, your new deputy arrived today!” Vortex announced and slapped Bow on his shoulders. Bow scowled, which made everyone grin.
“Think I’d prefer starring in the porn films,” he muttered. “This place is a fuckin’ asylum.”
Drew looked completely confused. “What porn films?”
“Don’t ask,” Joe almost begged as he walked past again. Joe shook his head and kept going as, despite the circumstances, we all laughed.
???
It was amazing how most of the brothers pitched in to police the town. Soon Drew’s cells were full of assholes who’d trespassed and then refused to leave. Once news of the arrests spread, most reporters stayed away, but drones had been sent in. The club had taken great delight in shooting them down. At first, the Feds had been worried. When they realised what was happening, worry turned to amusement.
We got used to the sound of Tracker or Hercules yelling, “Private property scumbags!”
Vortex had even received a call from the reclusive Gravey, stating he’d chased some ‘motherfuckin’ nosey bastards off’. Inglorious hadn’t been amused when Nanci had been stopped by one who’d tried bribing her. The guy had run, seeing Inglorious heading for him with murder on his face. Nanci had complained and informed us she’d been trying to get a yacht out of the reporter, to our amusement.
Because of the circus outside, the Capture the Flag game had been postponed for a couple of days. I did worry it would get too cold to play it, but Vortex shrugged it off. It was a game they could and would play even in the snow.
Chill replied that he preferred the snow, as he could bury his brothers’ faces in it.
Nice. But I still felt bad. Their lives were on hold, kind of because of me. Something needed to give.
Chapter Twelve.
