Chapter Eighteen
AYDA
Deeks had grumbled under his breath all the way back to The Hut. Autumn sat up front with him—a calming presence when he was agitated like this. I knew that a lot of his heightened emotions came from the memories of what had happened the last time Autumn and I had been that close to a Nav, and I couldn’t blame him for reacting that way. They weren’t my idea of fun either.
I wasn’t sure what this meant for Libby after seeing her with Rosie. All I’d managed to obtain had been that Rosie had been snuggled up to a Nav, and she’d looked more than comfortable.
Talk about a shitstorm.
We’d been halfway between Waco and Babylon when I’d noticed the flash of chrome behind us. From the flicker of Deeks’ eyes in the rearview, he’d noticed it, too. I’d felt the subtle shift in our speed, the growing tension in his shoulders and his glances at both Autumn and I as he assessed how much he could do to save us if the shit hit the fan.
We were being followed.
Whoever Rosie had been with, he hadn’t been there alone. I guess the thought should have occurred to me the momentwe’d seen them together in the cafe, but I’d been too shocked by what was going on in front of me to really think about anything but the implications that her association with the Navs had. I’d also been stupid enough to not take in my surroundings outside of Deeks, Autumn, and the van. From the appearance of the bike tailing us about three cars back, I had to assume that this guyhadbeen paying attention and, he’d not only noticed us but recognized us, too.
I wasn’t scared like I probably should have been. I knew Deeks would never let him get close to the van, and as we passed into the Babylon border, I could have kissed him for it.
The moment we pulled into the yard of The Hut, I was on my feet and yanking the door of the van open, forcing a bark of surprise from Deeks as the vehicle came to a stop, and I slipped out at a dead run, hefting the door closed in my momentum.
The Hut was pretty much empty when I entered, blinking away the dots caused by the bright light from the sunny day. There were a few of the girls lounging around sleepily, and Tate was behind the bar, a beer halfway to his mouth and his wide eyes on me. I glanced around, noting the door to the war room was closed. I barreled toward it, not even bothering to announce myself as I pushed into the sanctity of the room.
The moment the door was out of the way, all eyes were on me. This wasn’t normally my style of entry to any room, and the moment I met Drew’s eyes, the words formed without a cohesive thought about the reaction they would get.
“Navs were in Waco. One of them followed us back,” I breathed out, hand on my stomach as I tried to suck in air.
Drew’s eyes landed on my stomach, the small V of worry forming between his brows before he finally looked up at my face. He was out of his chair in a second, the sharp scrape of the heavy wood against the floor making me wince. “Fuck, are you okay?” he ground out as he came closer, his hands findingthe tops of my arms.
“Winded.” I took a breath and spared a glance at the other guys who were in varying states of shock—some half out of their seats as they waited for more intel. “We were heading to another store when I glanced in a coffee shop and saw one of them—a Nav—in there cozying up with Rosie Sullivan. Remember… that Hound Whore I told you about? But I didn’t think to look closer and see if the Nav had backup. We just headed straight back to tell you. That’s when we caught him on our tail.”
Drew glanced up at the men, each of them focused on him—awaiting his instruction. I didn’t know what passed between them all, but between one blink and the next, Drew’s jaw had tensed and he’d given a curt nod that made Slater, Kenny, and Moose move while the others stayed in place.
The three men marched past me, making their way through the bar to the yard.
“Ayda?” Drew said my name softly, drawing my attention back to him. “I’m gonna need you to take a deep breath for me, okay, darlin’?”
The sound of his voice helped my brain catch up with the rest of me. I’d been so determined to get in here and tell them what was going on that everything else had been pushed to the side, including basic bodily functions. I drew in a long breath through my nose, held it for a second and released again, calming my panting breaths enough to find a normal pattern. Hiding my grimace, I met Drew’s eyes and nodded with more confidence.
“I’m good.”
“Good. That’s good. Now, can you tell me where Deeks is?” he asked, and I knew he was trying to control his anger at me for being there alone.
“He was still trying to park when I jumped out of the van,” I said sheepishly. “He’s probably on his way in now.”
I didn’t want him to be upset with Deeks who had been pretty amazing, considering the white knuckle ride we’d just made back here in record time without being pulled over by a State Trooper or Nav.
Drew stepped back, his eyes widening. “You did what out of the what now? Because I know I didn’t just hear you say you jumped out of a moving van.”
“Moving was an extreme exaggeration. It was more of a smooth rolling stop really.” I put my hand on his chest and ignored the other half dozen sets of eyes trained on me. “I landed on both feet just fine,” I whispered.
I watched as he stepped back from me, dropping one hand to his hip while he pushed his other fist to his mouth and tried to keep whatever he had to say inside him. His eyes were sure to set fire to me he was glaring that intensely until he finally let his eyelids drop for just a moment before he looked back up at Jedd who was still standing over his seat at the table.
“So help me God, this woman will be the death of me,” he mumbled behind his fist.
I didn’t want to antagonize the situation more than I’d already done, but I also didn’t appreciate the kid gloves returning. I wasn’t made of glass.
“I’m fine. I knew what I was doing, and I wasn’t at risk. I saw a risk in Waco and I made my way back here. I did everything you asked of me.”
His gaze drifted down to my stomach, nostrils flaring before he let out a sigh and refused to make eye contact.
