Chapter 14
ASH
T he police never come. The guy, whose first name turns out to be Leighton, was bluffing about calling them, in hopes of keeping War in line. Doubtful that gambit would work on War, but I may never know.
Jamie brings us clothes and picks us up in Sawyer’s dead brother’s Audi since Jamie’s Porsche would be too small.
Sawyer who’s with my cousin helps me get her fuzzy Ugg slippers on my feet while I pull a sweatshirt over my cami. We’re in the back seat, and I lean forward into the space above the console to talk to the guys in the front.
“Can we go to the abduction site to see if the cars are still there?”
“Eventually,” War says. “Crue house first.”
“Yeah,” Jamie agrees. “I rang Trick on the way over?—”
“You use a burner?” War demands, cutting him off.
“No.”
I can tell by Jamie’s expression he regrets not doing so now that War’s pointed out it would’ve been better to. There’s a beat of silence as they each process and then move on from it .
“Trick wants us all at the Crue house for now.”
“Including Killian?” War asks.
“He didn’t mention him. By us, I think he meant the four of us in this car.”
War nods.
“Could we use a burn phone to send Killian to see about the cars?” I ask. “The Crue truck has a lot of after-market custom stuff. It’s a quarter-of-a-million-dollar vehicle.”
“You don’t care about the truck,” War says. His tone is matter of fact, but his signature scowl is back, so it puts me on the defensive.
“Hey,” I say, refusing to sound sheepish. I’m allowed to worry about my car. “That’s decent justification for sending Killian to check the road. He can report back on whatever he sees.”
Jamie glances at me in the rearview. “Let’s not mobilize Killian to the scene of an attack with no backup. That’s an order only the bosses should give.”
“I guess.” I know he’s right, but now that I’m safe I can’t help but think about my car. Billie’s my baby. I’ve poured pretty much every penny I’ve ever earned into restoring her.
Sawyer squeezes my arm in a show of support.
“Thanks,” I mouth.
We reach the hulking riverfront house, and I am happy to be back on Crue property.
Once we’re inside, War guides me to the kitchen island and taps a bar stool.
As I sit, he grabs a sports drink and sets that and a bottle of water in front of me.
I get up and walk over to a foil-covered tray that I suspect has cinnamon rolls in it.
He pushes it away from my reaching hand, like I’m a five-year-old trying to steal a cookie before dinner.
“What are you doing?” I ask, cocking a skeptical brow.
“Sit down, and drink those electrolytes. I’m gonna make us food in a minute.”
“I’ll eat that, too. I’m super hungry.” I try to reach around him, but he blocks me.
“There’s no time to argue. Do what I say. ”
My eyes narrow. “I want a cinnamon roll.”
He picks me up and sets me in the designated seat, like I’d do with one of the kids who won’t listen. All three of our jaws drop.
“Mate,” Jamie says, shaking his head.
War ignores him. “Drink those.” He grabs another electrolyte drink from the counter and cracks it open. As he strides to the floating stairs, he announces, “I’m getting a burn phone, so I can call C. If someone wants to do something useful, they can chop ham, onions, and peppers for the omelettes.”
“I’m not,” I say in a surly tone, but I do crack the seal on the sports drink and suck half of it down before alternating with the water. My gaze slides to the tray. I like sugar. I would go as far as to say I’m a sugar junkie.
After I down the sports drink, I hop up and go to the tray, which does contain cinnamon rolls, but unfortunately they feel kind of stale. I lick a bit of crusty vanilla icing from my finger before returning to my chair.
Sawyer goes to the fridge and starts bringing out supplies. When she’s found a colander and rinsed the peppers, she brings them to the island. While chopping, she says, “You okay?”
“Yeah, all good,” I say mechanically. It’s mostly true.
We look up at the sound of War’s voice as he jogs down the stairs, talking into the burn phone. “Sure, but if you’re coming, he can talk to her when he gets here. Then, you can both hear the story at the same time.”
My brows rise. Is War really trying to control when and how my brother—one of his bosses—communicates with me after a kidnapping? The guy is insane.
There’s a moment of stubborn silence as War listens. Then, frowning, he hands me the phone.
“Hello?” I say.
“Hey, baby,” Trick says. “You all right?”
Just hearing the concern in his voice triggers me. I am okay, of course, but it’s nice to know there are people who love me and know how to express it .
“Yeah.” My voice cracks a little, and I look up at the ceiling to blink back tears that threaten to form. “They made me crash Billie. Not sure if she’s all right or not. You know how much I’ve put into her.”
“Hey,” Trick says. “Don’t talk to me about the car. That will be as good as new or better, I promise. I wanna know how you are. Truth. Do you feel comfortable in the Crue house with its current occupants? All you need to say is yes or no.”
“Yes.”
“You sure? Because if you don’t, that is not a problem. You can hand the phone to your cousin, and he will bring you to me. We’ll meet on the highway, and you and I will go home to Boston or Coins.”
“No, I’m good. Jamie and Sawyer are both here, too. Oh, no,” I say as something hits me.
“What?”
“I just realized I made a mistake. A bad one.” Exhaling, I shake my head. I left the Glock without wiping off my prints or DNA. Anyone could retrieve it and stitch me up in multiple homicides. “One of the first things you taught me.”
“Do not worry about a fucking thing,” Trick says emphatically. “You hear me? Not a thing. Everything is gonna be okay, baby. I promise you.”
“Yeah,” I whisper, but I’m still shaking my head. “All right. See you when you get here, Scotty.” After I end the call, I set the phone on the counter and put my head in my hands.
A second later, I feel War standing over me. “What?” He’s bent forward to speak in my ear.
“I can’t believe I forgot.” My voice is barely a whisper. “I didn’t wipe down the pistol.”
“I did.”
My head jerks up, so I can look at War’s face. “Did you?”
He nods.
“You’re sure? You swear?” My voice is shocked and elated .
“I’m sure. Wiped it and dropped it next to the original owner.”
“The rifles? We had the assault rifle all the way to the Lambda’s basement cell.”
“The rifles may have my prints and DNA on them, among others, including yours. But if law enforcement gets their hands on them, there are a lot of ways to explain it all away. We handled them to use the butts as tools. Which I did numerous times.” He’s so confident. Which is exactly what I need right now.
Exhaling, I wince. “Yeah, but… If they uncover the scene, the forensic team will know from the blood and the bodies that the kill shots were fired from inside the cell.”
“So what? It was self defense. I had to return fire before they killed us.”
“You?” I say in surprise.
“Yes, me.” He pushes the water in my direction. “Finish that while I make the eggs.”
My hand shoots out and grabs his beefy forearm. “War—” Tears fill my eyes. Weird that I’m getting all emotional now, long after the danger has past, just because he’s being nice.
War leans close, blocking Jamie and Sawyer’s line of sight. “Don’t do that,” he says in a low voice. “Later when we’re alone, all right. But not now.” Raising his head, he stares into my eyes, ordering me to buck up for a little longer.
I swallow and nod, then drop my head so I can cover as I wipe my eyes. “I’m all right,” I murmur, sliding the bottle of water under my hair so I can take a drink.
War’s heavy hand rests briefly on the back of my head and says a million things all at once that he’s never said with his mouth. And maybe never could.
It says, we’re in this together now.
It says, I’ve got your back no matter what.
It says, I choose you ahead of anyone, and everything.
And in return, you have to choose me, too.