Chapter Eighteen
Delilah’s eyes went wide, she bit her lip, and fought the urge to push away from Hawkeye when she spotted the fenced area where they were headed.
The only thing that stopped her was knowing if she moved too much she would fall off the motorcycle.
She didn’t know how fast they were going but she didn’t want to hit the ground at this speed.
She held on as they rode through the gates and forced herself not to twist around and watch them close, locking her in.
Instead, she turned her attention to the large building where the men who had been riding with them, one by one, backed their motorcycles into a line along the front.
She stayed where she was until Hawkeye had walked his into position.
When he tapped her thigh, she braced herself on his shoulders, stood, and swung her leg off the rear of the motorcycle.
Once she was off, she hit the release on the helmet then pulled it off.
She had taken the time to check out the latch before putting it on this morning, so she knew how to work it now.
“Here.” She held the helmet out to Hawkeye once he was standing. “Thank you for letting me borrow it,” she said when he took it. She didn’t miss the frown and glance at her before he turned back to the bike and stowed the helmet.
“Come on, little dove, let’s go inside and get something to drink.” Hawkeye placed a hand on the small of her back and urged her forward.
Her stomach churned as she looked around, wondering if everyone was watching her and wondering how stupid she was.
Delilah let her gaze search the front of the building, even craning her neck to look up all the way up toward the roof.
She wondered briefly if there was anyone up there, but she didn’t have long to wonder.
Hawkeye’s hand on her back urged her forward.
Taking in the building hadn’t helped the churning in her belly.
Had she gone from the frying pan into the fire?
Was this group no different than the Crows?
The Royal Crows hadn’t mistreated her, much.
They’d mostly ignored her, unless the meal was late.
Still, even then, they hadn’t done anything to her that Warren hadn’t—far less, in fact.
She hadn’t known how long that would last. How long until they decided they had a better use for her than to cook and they dragged her out into the main room and used her like they did the rest of the women?
That was the fear that had left her terrified to sleep each night.
Stepping inside, she wanted to stop and let her eyes adjust, but couldn’t because there were people behind her trying to get in. Not knowing what else to do, she let Hawkeye guide her. He urged her to a table along one wall.
“Have a seat.” He waited for her to slide into the booth that looked like it belonged in some diner, not a biker hang out.
Where did they get these anyway? When she’d slid into the seat and all the way over, leaving room for him, he sat beside her.
At first, she wished he would sit across from her, giving her a little space, but when someone she didn’t recognize came up and sat down across from her, she realized Hawkeye was putting himself between her and everyone else. He sat next to her to protect her.
“What do you want to drink?” Hawkeye asked.
She turned and looked at him, and her mind went blank. She blinked several times before her brain seemed to shake loose.
“Water.”
He frowned. “I know you’re only nineteen and that’s not legally old enough to drink but you’re not going anywhere, at least not today. If you want something stronger, it’s okay. We have some sodas, too, if you’d rather have one of those.”
“I’ve never had either. Water is fine.” She let her gaze drop to the table. She hated having to admit that she’d never done something as normal as drink a soda.
“Hey, Dax!” Hawkeye yelled, lifting an arm, then lowering it. “What do you want to eat?” he asked her.
“I’m fine.” Delilah wasn’t sure she could keep anything down, not until she knew what would be happening to her.
She glanced around the room and didn’t see the barely dressed and naked women wandering around like there had been with the Crows.
Maybe things were different here. Maybe not. She would have to wait and see.
“Give us just a second, Pike. I want to get this started first.” Hawkeye said to the stranger across from her.
Pike nodded and pulled out a computer. Delilah watched as he set it on the table and opened it.
She might never have used a computer, but she knew what they were.
He pulled out a second and set it beside the one he’d already opened.
She was vaguely aware of someone approaching and Hawkeye talking to him, but she was too interested in Pike to pay much attention.
After the new guy walked away, Pike pushed the second computer toward Hawkeye.
“I brought this for you. I figured you’d be eager to get busy.”
“You’re not wrong,” Hawkeye slid the laptop into place in front of him, then spun it around so the opening was facing him and opened it. “Did you bring a mouse?”
Pike dug around in the bag in the chair beside him, pulled out a small wireless mouse and handed it over.
“Tell me what you’ve found so far,” Hawkeye said.
“Not much. The Calling has an online presence, but only for recruiting. They’re not registered as a 501c, or a business of any kind.
There are no bank accounts for the cult, at least not with that name or any variation I can find.
There are, however, accounts for the ‘father’ and several of his ‘bishops.’ Those are larger than they should be, even if they’re drawing a reasonable salary from the group. ”
Delilah frowned. Why were they looking into The Calling? Were they planning to try to send her back there, despite what Hawkeye said?
“As for a Warren Hammond, that’s a little more difficult.
Warren isn’t a common name, but it’s not unheard of either.
Hammond, is fairly common. I mean it’s not Smith, but it’s not Lipshitz either.
It looks like there are about a hundred of them in the US.
I can’t find a record of any of them in Idaho in the last five years. ”
“Delilah, I know you said you don’t know exactly when he was born but I don’t recall what you said, can you repeat it for us both?
” Hawkeye turned his attention to her for the first time since the new man had slid a computer across the table.
“Shit, I’m sorry. I forgot to introduce you.
Delilah, this is Pike. He’s one of my brothers.
He’s trying to help me find out as much about Jericho as we can.
” He turned to face the man across the table.
“Pike, this is Delilah. She spent most of her life in Jericho. We pulled her out of the Crows’ clubhouse when we went in. ”
She glanced over at Pike, not sure if she should look at his face or keep her eyes lowered. When he didn’t seem offended by the glance, she looked a little longer.
“Nice to meet you,” she said.
“Nice to meet you, too,” Pike said, creases between his brows. Was he wondering why she was here when none of the other girls were. She heard something about a shelter but was afraid to ask for details.
“What can you tell us about Hammond?”
“He’s forty-seven or forty-eight, I think. I’m not sure. We don’t celebrate birthdays, so all I know is his was sometime in the summer. I have no idea where he was born, though.”
“That’s okay. It gives me somewhere to start.” Pike started hitting keys on the computer. Glancing up at her once in a while to ask questions like, “Does he talk like you and me or does he say things differently?”
Delilah frowned but stayed silent. What did he mean?
“Do his words sound the same as yours and mine or do they sound different? Like does he say wash or warsh? Wolves or woves? Does he drop his Rs?”
Her frown deepened into a scowl. “Drop his Rs?” she had no clue what it meant.
“Hey, Shark, come over here a sec.” Hawkeye yelled, startling her and she jumped. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I’m okay.”
He watched her a moment longer, as if something was wrong and he could get her to tell him what if he just watched her long enough.
It didn’t work. She might talk to Hawkeye.
Maybe. But there was no way she would say anything in a room full of men she’d never seen before ten minutes ago.
There was no way to know who might hear her or what they might do.
She was better off just keeping her mouth shut.
“What you need, Hawkeye?” A man with blue spiked hair that stood up about four inches from his head said as he stopped by the table.
“I wanted you to meet someone.” Hawkeye turned toward her. “This is Delilah. Tell her your name.”
The new guy stared at Hawkeye, then shrugged and turned to address her. “Nice to meet you, Delilah, I’m Shawk.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Shark.”
“Did you catch that?” Hawkeye said, looking at her.
“You mean the way he says Shark? Of course, it’s hard to miss.”
“That’s what we mean by dropping Rs.”
She suddenly knew what he meant and found herself making a surprised O with her mouth as she thought about what she’d heard and how Warren spoke.
“No, Warren doesn’t do that. But Father Monro does. Warren speaks slowly, though. Way slower than most of the men in Jericho.”
“That’s good!” Hawkeye said before turning back to Shark. “Thank you. That’s all I needed.”
“You just wanted her to hear me say my name?” Shark said with a frown.
“Exactly. We’re trying to find someone. We needed to know if he has any accents, so we know where to look for him. She didn’t know what I meant when I asked if he dropped his Rs.”