Chapter 5
“Can you explain thisto me again?” Lily asked Gage as he drove them over the mountain on their way back to Kingsmill. “Please use simple terms because I don’t understand why Caleb would leave me anything in his will.”
Gage gripped the wheel and adjusted his visor against the shifting sun glare. He should’ve mentioned the house situation during their picnic, but he’d wanted a few moments of peace without his father’s drama killing the mood. “All I know is that Caleb left my momma’s house to you.”
“It’s too bad Ryan is renting it for a few more months.” Not that she was planning on living in it right away. “Do you know why Caleb left me the house?”
“I’m not sure.” He glanced at her hand with the cast. “I missed the reading of the will. Remember?”
“I bet your brothers were annoyed that you didn’t attend the will reading.” She watched the scenic mountains pass by and chewed her bottom lip. “Or the funeral.”
“Probably. But I haven’t cared about what they think for decades. The only one I’ve had physical contact with in the last year is John.”
Which wasn’t unusual. John, being his closest brother in age, had left home at sixteen, when Gage had been two. Since they’d never had time to develop a bad relationship, they’d coasted into an amicable-yet-infrequent adult one.
“Does that still make you sad?”
“Not anymore.” She was the only person he’d ever admitted that to. She was the only person who knew the truth of how abysmally Caleb had parented them all. “It’s just unfortunate. I have this large family who barely speaks to each other unless money or property are involved.”
“At least you have family.” She sent him a small smile. When they were teenagers, they’d had this ongoing debate on which was better—a large-yet-dysfunctional family or a small-but-loving one. “When was the last time you spoke with Caleb?”
He took his time in answering. He’d promised Caleb he’d only reveal secrets when necessary. “We spoke about six months ago. He updated me on his illness and forbade me from coming home to visit or from calling again. I suspect he didn’t want me to see or hear what the cancer had done to him.”
She reached over with her unhurt hand as if to rub his neck, like she used to, but dropped her arm. “That is so sad.”
“Yes, it is.” When the car found a downward straightaway, he picked up speed. “A few months ago, once I had my twenty years in the army, I retired, grabbed my bike, and hit the road. When I finally found civilization again, I heard about Caleb’s death.”
“Is that why your hair is long? Because you were on the road?”
“I grew it for my last undercover operation.” He relaxed his grip on the wheel and slowed around a blind curve. “When I left the army, I kept it long. It suited the hardcore biker look I was going for.”
The scarier he looked on the road, the safer he was—one of the great ironies of being a lone biker traversing the country. He winked at her. “Do you think it’s sexy?”
“I am not answering that.” Her laughter lightened the mood in the car, and he was grateful. “I still can’t believe I own that beautiful Victorian house on Spring Street. I’ve always loved that house with the turrets and wrap-around porch.”
“Maybe that’s why Caleb left it to you.”
“But I haven’t seen him in ten years.” She wrinkled her nose. “And I live in Paris so I don’t need a home in Kingsmill.”
Gage glanced at her again, and this time she was smiling at him. “You said Caleb emailed you, though. So you kept in touch?”
“Yes.” She licked her lips and shoved her phone into her pocket. “He loved hearing about my adventures. Apparently, he’d had his own time in the City of Light. Except,” she grimaced, “from his stories, he saw an entirely different side of the city.”
“I’m sure his was seedier and far more dangerous than your experience.”
“His stories, while highly entertaining, did seem like something out of a novel.” She sighed and rested her cast on her lap. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell me he was so sick. I would’ve come home sooner, or for the funeral.”
“He hated thinking he was weak, or having others see him that way.”
“Are you surprised by this house situation? I mean, it’s your mother’s house. The one she grew up in.”
“No. Caleb bought that house when my grandparents died, but Daisy and Caleb were already married and never lived in it with any of their kids. Although I’m sure Isaiah is furious.” His phone buzzed in the cup holder. “Would you check that?” He wasn’t about to text and drive on a treacherous mountain pass.
“Oh, boy.” She held up his phone. “A text from Ryan.”
He laughed so hard he snorted. “Has that loser sent out people to find us yet?”
“Actually, yes.” Her smile disappeared, and she kept reading. “He’s issued a BOLO.”
* * *
Lily replaced the phonein the cup holder just as Gage muttered, “Fucker.”
She smiled. While she hadn’t said it, she’d been thinking it. “What do we do now?”
“Don’t worry.” He glanced in the rearview mirror before going around a switchback. Then he pulled into a cutout used by tourists to stop and take in the breathtaking view of Mosby’s Gap.
“Why are we stop—”
The loud roar of engines drowned out her questions, and a second later twelve motorcycles drove by in formation at twice the legal speed limit. Despite their speed, she could ID them by their leather cuts with the Devil’s Renegades logo on their backs. “Are they heading to Kingsmill?”
“I’m not sure.” Gage blew out a breath and pulled onto the road. A few seconds later, he was up to speed. “Their cuts labeled them as brothers from the Ravensburg chapter, but maybe they’re going to church at The Ren.”
Church? Oh. Right. An official club meeting.
She closed her eyes and rested her head against the headrest. “This has been a weird and wild day and it’s not even two o’clock yet.”
“The good news is they weren’t following us.”
“Good grief.” She opened her eyes and caught him looking at her. “If that’s your idea of good news, I think we may be doomed.”
He turned off the mountain pass and headed toward the Kingsmill sign he’d passed earlier. “Do you remember what I said to you after we graduated from high school? Before I left alone?”
“You said not to worry.” She crossed her arms, not loving the memory. “You promised you had a plan. I just didn’t know that your plan didn’t include me.” She paused because his jaw muscle was working overtime. “Why?”
“I’m making you another promise, Lils. One I’m going to keep.” He drove over the bridge and slowed for the town’s speed limits. “I’m asking you not to worry.”
This was ridiculous. “Gage—”
“Because I have a plan.”
She scoffed just as her phone buzzed again with a text from Eve. Hurry!