“Drew, give me something to go on here.” She ran her hands through her hair, noticed my attention on the bike and twisted to look out the back of the van.
“Come on, you son of a bitch,” I muttered under my breath, watching theHarleyget closer.
Closer…
Closer…
Until whoever was riding that bike sped up and came level with my window, turning to face me wearing a smile before he gave me the thumbs up like the happy vacationer he was and tore off into the distance.
I sagged immediately, dropping my head back against the seat and feeling the weight of the tension disappear from my shoulders for just a single second.
The thought ofnotkilling a Navarro Rifle member was almost as appealing as sex. Almost.
“Shit,” I blew out. “Shit, shit, shit.”
“Drew.” Ayda sucked in a breath and reached out a hand before letting it drop back into her lap. “Fucking say something.”
I closed my eyes for just a moment before I opened them again, stared out at the road and then turned to look into Ayda’s eyes. “We need to gather the club together. Everyone. Including the kids. Something big is about to happen, Ayda. I can feel it.”
“You know I trust your judgment. I know you wouldn’t steer us wrong, but if you want me to call Sutton and convince him to pull the kids from school, youhaveto give me more than that to go on. He’s a friend of the club, but he’s not going to take your intuition as law.”
“He will.” I nodded once, turning back to stare at the road ahead of me. “Once you tell him we have a Nav in our town.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
AYDA
There were a million thoughts running through my head at Drew’s last words, and a million and one questions I needed to ask. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t time to fire rapid inquiries at him and get the things we needed to do done. The club operated like a well-oiled machine, and from the way Drew was driving, his first priority had been me. As flattered as I was, I knew there were other places he needed to be, and he should be answering questions everyone else would have. For now, I just had one very pressing thing to verbalize before I picked up my phone and executed his commands.
“That’s all you had to say.”
I pulled my bag around and fumbled inside for my phone as Drew grumbled under his breath. Starting with Sutton, I made the needed calls, moving on to the school to release the kids, and then Harry to get the MC into gear—all orders given by Drew as he drove and I executed them, giving each person I spoke to as little information as possible. I was just hanging up from Deeks who was with Autumn at her place when we pulled in through the gates.
This plan of action was like circling the wagons. It was a call to action; all of our charter members were expectedto head toward The Hut. Some brought their spouses and children; others went out of their way to pick up known friends of the MC. Once everyone was in place, the gates were locked and the talking started.
Harry was disappearing into The Hut as Drew slid the van to a complete stop and dragged me across the bench seat and out of the same door as him. It was only my quick thinking that stopped me from being choked to death by the seatbelt, and I cringed as the metal belt hit the window on the return. He didn’t even bother to wait for me to climb out myself, just dragged me into his arms. I was left to kick the door closed as the roar of three bikes grew louder just outside the property line. The sound made Drew stiffen so his shoulder became a concrete block wedged under my sternum.
“Ouch,” I grumbled, my hands clawing at his back so I wasn’t in quite so bad of a position. When I glanced over my shoulder, I was happy to see that the riders were Kenny, Moose, and one of the other guys wearing a full helmet, which made it impossible to tell exactly who he was.
“Get ready, darlin’,” Drew whispered in my ear as he lowered me to the ground and watched the patched members roll into the yard. “Shit is about to get real.”
“What’s next?” I asked, offering a half wave to Kenny as he swung his leg over his bike.
Drew grabbed my face in his hands and pulled me closer. “Time to be the old lady. I’ll take the guys to the table. I’ll need you to take care of everyone in The Hut. Autumn will help you. You think you can do that?”
I smiled up at him, my hands rising to cover his where they warmed my cheeks. “I’ll make it work.”
“I’m going to do something stupid, too. I’m going to goagainst protocol and tell you to send Sutton into the room. But ten minutes after I’ve gone in with my men. I’m going to have to warn them first, but he needs to hear this. If the Navs are connected to Jacob, I need someone from town to be able to fill in some gaps for us. I’m going to need to keep communication open with him. If the Navs had anything to do with Sloane…” he trailed off, shaking his head softly. “Not that that’s their style. If it had been one of them, I doubt she’d have gotten away. Although, I suppose it fits with her story. Someone she’s never seen before, and they’d have the motive to hurt her just to piss us off. But we don’t know anything for sure and for now, we need to discuss all options. Keep the women and the kids occupied so they don’t panic. Some of the men will stay out there with you. As soon as we’re done, I’ll come and find you.”
I nodded my understanding and rolled my shoulders back, pushing against his hands in a silent request for a kiss. He brushed his lips against mine briefly, but it was enough.
The moment we were inside it was easy to see why they needed someone to take point. All the men knew exactly what was expected of them. They moved things around, made people comfortable, and there were even a few prospects setting up the table in—what I’d dubbed—the war room. It was the families by proxy that seemed to be causing the chaos. Some of the women with younger children were huddled together, their infants held to their chest. Some of them even had to juggle that with holding on to toddlers, who obviously wanted to explore.
Squeezing Drew’s hand, I released it, threw him a wink and headed toward our room so I could dump my things onto our bed. When I returned, I made a beeline for the HWsstanding along one side of the room looking a little bemused by the sudden overcrowding. I approached Libby first. Until Autumn got there, I needed help, and she was my biggest advocate in this group. Together we delegated tasks to the other women asking some to keep the younger children in my room where there were toys for the twins laying around and a television for them to watch. We sent a couple more to man the bar and hand drinks out to anyone who wanted them. The rest were to welcome families and members and do some damage control with the more freaked out people in the group.
Once the Hounds had gone to their meeting and closed themselves off from the rest of The Hut, our lives became a little easier. The others began to focus and pay attention to what was going on around them. The prospects and patched members who were not at the table were watching the surveillance screens because they were now in control of who entered the compound.
When I saw Sutton’s cruiser pull in, I slipped past the patched Hound at the door and went out to help him with the twins, and send him to the table where the conclave was taking place. Drew and the others had been sequestered for a good ten minutes by then, as Drew requested. Warning Sutton to knock first, I sent him off to the inner sanctum, while Tate and Sloane—who had followed him in on Tate’s bike—helped me shuffle the twins back to my room where the makeshift daycare was.
