“I’m not the one you should apologize to.”
The Blackthorn leader turned to Elias. “I’m sorry,” he said simply. “When I agreed to offer you sanctuary, I assumed my own men would honor my decision. If you want, I can arrange for you to have sanctuary with a brother MC. They’re good men. I’d stake my life on that.”
Elias remained silent for a moment. “Does Heath have loyal friends?”
“Two.”
“Tell them to stay away until my Old Lady and I are in the clear. If you do that, we’ll stay where we are.”
Dutch smiled. “Good. I’ll see to it myself. Go. Get some rest and don’t worry about the garbage.” He motioned to the man on the floor. “We’ll take care of it. We’ve got you. You’re safe, Elias.”
Right. He didn’t intend to take anyone’s word on that. He and his teammates would set up a watch rotation so that they weren’t surprised.
Bad enough that he had to stay in place, risking Iona and the rest of their teammates in the quest to find out when and where the weapons and ammunition would be sold. The last thing he wanted was to take the people he cared about into another unknown situation, but they must confiscate the weapons and ammo before they hit the street. The lives of innocent people were at stake, as well as the lives of his friends. He must get the information they needed to stop that sale.
“Elias.” Seth inclined his head toward the door.
With his weapon still in hand, Elias nudged Iona into motion. He waited two beats before he fell into step behind her, using his body to cover her vulnerable back.
Outside, Blackthorn Riders stood in clumps around the yard near the clubhouse. A general air of discontent gave Elias a clue how much Dutch controlled the Blackthorn Riders. Not much. The MC members’ voices couldn’t lie. Blackthorn wasn’t happy with their president’s decision to protect Elias, and that made him curious. Why would they care?
Elias thought about that as he crawled onto the truck’s passenger seat. Based on their behavior so far, Blackthorn shouldn’t care if he stayed among them or not. So, who had stirred them up?
Dutch was correct. His MC members weren’t giving him the respect he deserved as their president. So who had infiltrated theorganization and turned them against what their president stood for?
Iona cranked the truck and drove toward the cabin. “What do you think about that ambush?”
“We must rank as a top priority for someone because that was two ambushes in a matter of hours. Someone doesn’t want us to have sanctuary.”
“Did you notice the shooter tonight was dressed the same as the man who shot you?”
“How could I not?”
“What do you make of it?”
“Black clothes are easy to find. Some people dress like that as a fashion statement.” Could be a coincidence. Maybe. Not likely, though.
“Come on, Elias. You don’t find it the least bit significant that these men were dressed alike?”
“I noticed, but I’m not convinced it’s significant yet.” He didn’t want to believe someone was so determined to kill him that he followed Elias into a mission. If that was true, no one around him was safe, especially Iona.
The knot in his stomach tightened further. Perhaps he should resign and walk away from his life in Fortress. Intense pain pierced his heart at the thought. He didn’t want to lose the life he’d built, but the only thing holding him back was Iona. He was too far gone over that woman to turn his back on her, even to keep her safe.
So, what options did that leave him? He thought about that for a while and came up with nothing. Elias realized he didn’t have a choice. He’d have to finish this mission while keeping an eye out for more assassins sent by his personal enemy. He didn’t see how the unknown enemy could be connected with the mission to locate ammo and weapons, though.
“No.”
His eyebrows shot up. “I said nothing.”
“Didn’t have to say it with words. Your facial expression says it all.”
Huh. He needed to work on his poker face. “Is that right?”
“Yep.”
“All right, Byrne. What does my face tell you?”
“You want to send me away to keep me safe.”
