Chapter 22
Rue
Itip-toed along behind the men and while I felt completely ridiculous because they were walking like normal, I couldn’t seem to stop myself.
“You look suspicious as hell,” Code told me with a grin. He had his hands buried in the pockets of his jeans like he was just out for a leisurely stroll.
Sighing, I forced myself to relax. “Sorry. I’m still not really used to following people.”
“No wonder Rhino spotted you so easily,” Hype said, shaking his head at me. “You’re doing the creeper monkey crouch.” He bent over with his arms out like an orangutan and waddled in a circle.
I huffed at him. “Pardon me for not being an expert in stalking.” I gave them a pointed look.
“We don’t stalk anyone,” Merc told me. “We shadow them.”
“Or trail them,” Drifter added.
“Run surveillance,” Code piped in.
“I stalk people,” Relay said with a shrug. “But only women.”
Everyone stopped and looked at him. “I’m not sure you’re supposed to admit that,” OD told him.
“At least not out loud,” Drifter said in agreement.
“Also,” I added, grimacing at him, “I’m not sure that makes it better. Or…okay…at all.”
“How else am I supposed to get to know them?” he asked me, ignoring his brothers.
I searched his expression for any sign that he was kidding. And then I realized he wasn’t. “I don’t know…the normal way?”
“Yeah, that’s what I said.” Now he looked genuinely perplexed.
“Nothing about him is normal,” Hype told me as OD stepped around the corner of a building, still following our target.
“Bring her flowers?” I suggested.
“Ah, but what kind of flowers, hmm? Stalking helps you know what type to get,” he countered.
I blinked at him. Technically he wasn’t wrong… Morally, on the other hand. “You ask her questions about herself,” I told him.
“Even I know you can’t bring out the pokers until at least the third date. Have some class,” Relay replied.
“Pokers?” I gave the guys a quizzical look.
“He’s talking about sex shit,” Hype answered with a sigh.
My eyes widened, wondering what he did with pokers during sex.
“Besides, there’s a far quicker way to find out everything you want to know,” Relay continued as if he hadn’t just flabbergasted me into silence.
My mouth opened. My mouth closed. It opened again. It closed again as I tried to pull my thoughts together and out of the gutter. What the hell? The other men groaned, clearly knowing what was coming.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. But I was too curious not to ask. “What’s that?”
“Go through their garbage,” he told me with a neutral expression on his face. He wasn’t even blinking as he stared at me.
“That’s so creep-”
“Target just slipped into that hardware store,” OD said, coming back to our group as we hung around, out of sight, behind the corner. “Let’s go.”
“The hell is he doing in a hardware store?” Merc asked, frowning as we walked through the doors.
“Maybe he needs a hammer,” Code supplied helpfully.
“More likely has an old lady with a honey-do list,” Hype commented.
OD just shook his head. “No, the most likely scenario is that he lost his damn ten millimeter socket.”
All the men groaned at the same time. One of those noises that were a chorus of agreement and also sounded like they’d all been there before.
“A ten millimeter what?” I asked, then gasped as Code grabbed me by the arm and yanked me into an aisle.
“Target just went down the lumber aisle,” Merc muttered at me. “Low and slow.”
I looked at them all like they’d lost their minds. But they all seemed to know what he was saying.
“Keep your head down and keep out of sight,” Drifter told me, patting my shoulder.
“Thanks,” I replied, following them. OD hadn’t been kidding. These men moved as though they all shared a brain. And not just the pervert stalker brain. I was definitely the odd man out. Odd woman out. But they weren’t treating me like I was in their way, and I really appreciated that.
We ducked down aisles and followed after the man they’d connected to The Collective.
They didn’t use his name, just ‘target’.
They must have a reason for that. Simplicity?
Disassociation? I’d have to ask OD later.
When he ducked behind some double doors into a back part of the warehouse, I frowned. “Speaking of suspicious…”
“Yeah,” the men said in unison.
“Are we going back there?” I asked.
“Need to,” OD said. He looked over at me.
“And I can come?” I asked, a little hesitantly because I didn’t want him to say no, but I was surprised.
“More dangerous to leave you out here alone if something’s up,” he replied.
“Oh, something’s up,” Relay confirmed what we were all feeling.
They all slipped their guns from their holsters. I’d brought mine as well and it rested comfortably in my hand. “What about the employees?”
“Whatever this guy’s up to, he’s likely paid them to disappear,” OD said, giving me a reassuring look before scanning the store behind us. “On three.”
I waited as he counted and ended up going through the door between Hype and Merc. I wondered if they did that on purpose, because both men were so much bigger than me I couldn’t really see much in front of, or behind, me.
OD was leading the charge, no surprise there, as we moved through the back area.
I’d already realized that was just the kind of man he was.
If there was danger, he’d be out front, confronting whatever situation needed it.
Even though we were walking into a dangerous confrontation, I felt completely safe. It was amazing how they managed that.
Loud pops filled the room and I flinched but followed along as the others corralled me behind some shelving units.
“Told you,” Relay growled. “Knew there was something fucking waiting for us.”
That was when it clicked for me that the loud pops had been gunfire.
Even though I’d taken my gun with me on most of my trips to search for Ryan, I’d never had to use it.
I bought it not long after he disappeared and I’d made sure to fire it at the range a couple of times, but this would be the first time I used it in an actual fight.
I was hit with the realization of just how unprepared I was. Thankfully I wasn’t alone.
OD’s face appeared in front of mine. “Stay here, Light.” His gaze slid away from me to the right. “Stay with her.”
“No problem,” Merc said with a nod. He didn’t seem upset about staying behind to baby sit while the other five ran toward the sound of bullets.
“Why don’t you put that away for now?” Merc suggested, gently taking my hand and lowering my gun. “Finger off the trigger.”
Right. “Sorry,” I told him, sliding my finger to the side of the barrel. “I’m okay now, I swear.”
One side of his mouth kicked up. “First time is always a little startling.”
Cocking my head at him, I smiled. “Why do I get the feeling you don’t startle at anything?”
I wasn’t sure I’d seen any sign of emotion in him. Well, laughter. He laughed a lot with his brothers. And he had a nice, easy smile. He knew how to make a person feel comfortable around him. But he didn’t panic. None of them did.
That made me remember the night that OD had shown up to help me and I’d revealed a knocked out Rhino.
There’d barely been surprise on his face, let alone any other emotion regular people would’ve been feeling.
If anything there was the curiosity of something new to do tonight.
Like coming home with a board game instead of a puzzle.
A pleasant change, but not entirely unexpected.
There was more gunfire.
“Guys found what they were looking for,” Merc commented, looking around the shelving unit for anyone running our way.
We waited, me tense, him loose and controlled, listening to everything happening deeper into the warehouse. All I could do was hope that they were okay. Eventually, the noise died down. I swallowed hard as I heard footsteps heading our way amongst the ringing in my ears.
I tightened my grip, ready to fight my way back to our guys with Merc if we needed to. Once more a strong hand clasped the top of my gun. I recognized the tattoos on the back of it before my eyes even lifted to OD’s face. There was blood spattered across one of his cheeks.
My gun was in my holster before I even knew what I was doing and he was dragging me into his strong arms. I rested my cheek against his shoulder and sighed. “You’re okay.”
“Some of us are still fucking bleeding here.”
Gasping, I looked over as Relay collapsed on the ground in front of the shelves, leaning back against them.
Drifter had helped him hobble back and was now crouched down in front of him. “It’s bleeding pretty good,” he told OD. “I need something to stop it. If it hit an artery he’s going to bleed out before we can get him stitched up.”
Relay looked around, then reached up above his head and grabbed something, thrusting it in Drifter’s face. “That’ll do.”
I pulled away from OD, going straight into EMT mode, and blinked at the super glue Relay was holding. “He’s right,” I said. “That will work if it’s just a flesh wound.”
“It’s going to fucking heat up as it cures,” Drifter said, looking over at me. “Could end up damaging the surrounding tissue.”
“True, but I don’t have medical-grade cyanoacrylate on me, do you?
” I asked. That was what us medical professionals usually used to close wounds.
Dammit. Why hadn’t I thought to bring that in my small kit with me?
I was so focused on what I wanted and proving myself that I’d forgotten the obvious.
Armed men doing something dangerous usually ended with bloodshed.
Well, I could improvise my way through this.
“No,” Drifter admitted.
“Guess we both have something new to add to our go bags,” I told him, rifling around in my emergency kit. I had damn near everything but that. “I have some sterile strips if it's not too bad of a wound.”
“How about we fucking get in there and check before I bleed to death?” Relay snapped.