Chapter Fifteen
WHY WOULDN’T HIS past die and stay buried?
He glared at the screen as the faces of the two men burned into his memory.
These jokers were the two worst offenders in his mind.
They acted like friends but stabbed him in the back the moment his father flicked a glance at them or issued a punishment order.
Where Elias had his hand on her shoulder, Iona rested her hand on top of his. “That’s not what you expected, is it?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know why I’m surprised.
My father always vowed to keep me under his thumb while he trained me to take over the Reckoners.
This is exactly the stunt he would pull when I was growing up, punishing me to strengthen me, he claimed.
I saw him as a bully back then, and my opinion hasn’t changed. ”
Seth’s brow rose. “Have his men popped up like this before during your American missions?”
Elias gave a slight nod. “Twice before.”
“Did you talk to them or just boot them out the door before they blew your cover?”
His lips curved. Yep, his unit leader knew him very well. “I asked them politely to deliver a message to Dad.”
“Right. How many injuries did they have?”
“Several.” So many that he’d lost count. Their own fault, though. They’d thrown the first punches and called them a message from his father.
“Did you leave them alive?” Teagan asked.
“Can’t deliver a verbal message if you’re dead.”
She grinned. “Wish I could have heard your father’s response.”
Elias shook his head. “It would have burned your ears, T. Trust me, hearing about it third hand is better for everyone.”
“What does this mean?” Iona asked. “We’re here on an undercover op, and two of your father’s enforcers show up. He knows where you are.”
Man, this was such a mess. Why couldn’t his father leave him alone?
“I would love to say there’s no way Dad knows we’re embedded with Blackthorn.
However, I learned a long time ago to expect the worst where he’s concerned.
I believe he knows we’re here. I doubt he knows why, but he knows of our presence. ”
“If your father tells Dutch and company who we are, we’re toast.”
He inclined his head in agreement. He couldn’t argue with her conclusion. Elias had hoped to escape his father’s eagle eye for the time this mission took to close. That hope was in vain. “We need to tell Maddox and Zane.”
Seth looked at him. “Stay put.” He strode out of the room and returned with his computer.
“Everything will work out, Elias,” Teagan said. “You’ll see.”
Although he appreciated her sympathy, the effort was wasted on him. He felt a little like Eeyore with a rain cloud over his head. Like the cartoon character, his luck always seemed to be bad wherever he went. “You can’t fix this, Teagan.”
Noah snorted. “Who can? None of us have control over who contributed to our DNA, buddy.”
Seth booted up his laptop. A couple of minutes later, the tech and communications guru’s face appeared on screen.
“What’s up?” Zane asked.
“We’ve got a lead. Can you patch in the boss?”
“Hold.” Soon, the screen split to show Zane’s and Maddox’s faces.
“Zane said you needed to talk.”
“Yes, sir.” Seth glanced at Elias. “The news is yours. Tell them.”
“Iona found camera footage of the night Christopher Merriweather drove himself to the emergency room with injuries.”
“What injuries?” Zane asked.
“The kind that my father’s enforcers dole out when they want to make a point.”
Maddox straightened. “Explain.”
“I know the two men who beat up the farmer. They’re two of my father’s enforcers.”
“Coincidence? The MC world is small.”
His lips curled. “I wish.”
“It’s not.”
“No, sir.”
Maddox sighed. “I was afraid of that. Is your cover blown?”
Elias thought about that for a beat. “I don’t think so. Not yet.”
“There’s a danger of you being exposed?”
“High probability, sir.”
“Recommendations?”
“Ride it out for the moment. We’re close to finding out where the meet is happening. Give us 24 hours. If we can’t pin the location down by then, pull us out. My father usually makes his wishes clear about 48 hours after his thugs appear on the scene.”
Maddox studied his face, then gave a slow nod. “Set up watches for the night. Don’t get caught by surprise.”
“We’ve already assigned pairs for night watch, sir,” Seth said. “We’ve done what we can to ensure the safety of this team.”
He didn’t have to say that sometimes those preparations weren’t enough.
Things happened that messed up your careful plans.
His father was a first-rate manipulator, and that was part of the reason he fled from the MC life.
Under his guidance, Elias would have turned out to be as much of a monster as his father.
“Remember your priorities.”
“Get the information we need to stop the sale of those weapons and ammunition, and also keep our team safe.” Seth wrapped his hand around Teagan’s. “Believe me, sir, we haven’t forgotten.”
“Good. If you need to bail to protect yourselves, do it. We’ll find another way to stop the sale. I can’t find two teams with your skills and training. That makes your teams the priority. Are you hearing me?”
“Yes, sir. Loud and clear.”
Maddox glanced at his tactical watch. “I have a meeting in a minute. Call me if you need anything. Maddox out.”
“What can I do to help?” Zane asked.
“Find my father,” Elias said. “We need to know if he’s in the area or if he’s directing this horror show from his hideaway.”
“I’ll see what I can find. Watch your back, Elias. This isn’t the time to lose focus.”
“Copy that, sir.”
“Later, my friend.”
The screen returned to Seth’s screensaver, a picture of him and Teagan on their honeymoon.
Seth shut down his laptop. “We have a few hours before the sun goes down. We need more security measures in place before we close ourselves in for the night.”
Elias brushed a kiss over Iona’s mouth. “I’ll help Seth and the others with security measures outside.”
She rose to her tiptoes and whispered in his ear, “Take your pain meds first.”
Right. He’d forgotten to take them after lunch. Elias glanced at Seth. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Go.”
When he returned downstairs, Echo unit trooped outside and unloaded a box of cameras they’d brought with them.
Without use of both arms, Elias teamed up with Seth and made himself useful by handing the other man cameras and tools when he needed them.
“That’s it for this one,” Seth said after a few minutes. “Find another place to set up a camera.”
He scanned the area, looking for a place that an intruder wouldn’t easily see a camera. Elias found a tree with thick branches and a good junction between a limb and the trunk. “There.”
Seth studied the tree he pointed out and nodded. “That’s a good one. The notch in the tree will be in heavy shadow when the sun goes down.” He climbed the tree and settled on the thick branch. Leaning down, he took the camera Elias handed him and secured it to the branch. “Got it.”
He slid down the tree trunk and dropped the final few feet to the ground. “Two more to go.”
“Do you think this will be enough to protect us against professional thugs?”
“Has to be. We have nothing else since this isn’t one of our safe houses. Besides, we’ll have eyes on the screen overnight, and if they slip past the cameras, Artemis is setting up security measures inside the cabin to give us at least a few seconds of warning.”
After mounting the third and fourth cameras, Seth and Elias returned to the cabin and booted up Elias’ laptop to check their camera placement.
Seth grinned. “Perfect. We rock.”
Elias chuckled. “You’re not shy about singing your own praises.”
“Check on the women’s progress, and I’ll check in with Andre, Noah, and Grant.”
As Seth loped back outside, Elias went in search of Iona. He found her in the library.
She glanced up from her work at the window. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself. How’s it going?”
“This is the last window for me.” She finished inserting a screw into the wood. “This may not stop someone from breaking in, but it will cause an intruder to make a lot of noise to get in here.”
“Simple but effective. Are you using anything else?”
“Teagan found a broom handle that she’s using to prevent someone from opening the sliding glass door. Other than that, we have nothing else on hand to use except for bells to hang from doors around the cabin.”
He nodded. “That works.”
“Are you okay?”
“I have to be.”
“It’s not your fault, you know.”
“Nope. It’s not my fault that my father believes he’s God. I couldn’t stop him as a kid, but I will stop him from wreaking havoc in my life or yours.”
“Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
“Iona.”
“No.” She held up her hands. “You can’t take that on. I’m ultimately responsible for me. Besides, I’m not the target. You are. If anything, I should be worried about you.”
“Don’t kid yourself. My father isn’t above using the woman I love as bait in a trap designed especially for me.”
She stared at him, an expression of shock on her face.
When she continued to stare, Elias frowned. “What is it?”
“You love me?”
He thought back through his sentence and realized he had indeed admitted the truth. “I meant what I said. I love you, Iona.”
She flew into his arms. “Elias, I love you too.”
Now it was his turn to stare. “You don’t have to say that to spare my feelings. I know it’s fast.”
“No, it’s not. I’ve been in love with you since the day we met. If anything, you’re the one who is late to the party.”
“Story of my life.”
“What are we going to do about it?”
He blinked. “My life or the fact that we’re in love?”
“The second.”
His mouth slowly widened into a grin. “Are you hinting at marriage, Byrne?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’m not hinting, Knight. I’m flat out saying we should get married.”
“I agree, and I accept your half-baked proposal. So, Ms. Byrne, how soon shall we tie the knot?”
“The minute we’re finished with this mission. Deal?”
“Deal.” Weirdest marriage proposal he’d ever heard, but he’d take it and her.
Seth walked in and pulled up short. “Oops. Sorry for interrupting.”
Elias released Iona and stepped back. “It’s fine. What’s up?”
“After I left the cabin to check on the rest of Echo unit, someone left a present on the porch.”
Elias’ hand clenched into a fist. “Show me.”
“You will not like it.”
“Oh, that’s a guarantee.”
The three of them walked outside to the porch, where Seth pointed at the box near the steps. Elias glanced at Iona. “If I asked you to stay here, would you?”
She smiled.
“That’s what I thought.” Why did she have to be so strong? He appreciated Iona’s strength most of the time. This wasn’t one of them. “Did you look inside, Seth?”
His friend nodded. “Grant made sure it wasn’t rigged to explode first.”
“Having an EOD expert is handy.” Good to know that Iona wouldn’t be blown to bits alongside him when he looked inside the box. Elias knelt in front of the plain box and lifted the lid.
He flinched at the gruesome sight before him. Inside the box were the remains of a decapitated rat’s body, its head having rolled into a corner.
Iona gasped and clamped a hand over her mouth. “Gross. Who would do such a horrible thing to a living creature?”
“We’re not exactly influencing friends and winning enemies on this op.” Seth shook his head. “This is a message. The question is who sent it?”
“Rats usually signify betrayal.” Elias studied the pitiful creature inside the box.
“No clues on the rat.” He picked up the box lid and examined the outside.
Nothing. Picking up the part of the box containing the rat, Elias studied the outside of the box.
It wasn’t until he looked underneath at the bottom of the box that he spotted the symbol that told the tale.
He clenched his teeth to stop himself from growling.
“What did you find?” Seth asked.
“Look for yourself.”
Echo’s leader studied the patch for a beat. “All right. I give up. What does it mean?”
“The skull and crossbones is the symbol my father chose for his motorcycle club. Someone burned the patch to symbolize what they see as my betrayal of the club. Same meaning as the rat.” He turned to his friend and the woman he loved. “My father and his cronies know where I am.”